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unpaid liabilities if, in addition to the seven threshold
conditions, each of the following conditions is met: (1) The
requesting spouse is no longer married to, is legally separated
from, or has not been a member of the same household as the
nonrequesting spouse at any time during the 12-month period
ending on the date of the request for relief; (2) it was
reasonable for the requesting spouse to believe that the
nonrequesting spouse would pay the tax liability; and (3) the
requesting spouse will suffer economic hardship if relief is not
granted.
Although petitioner has been physically separated from Mr.
Hopkins for more than 1 year, at the time the returns were filed
petitioner knew that the liabilities were not paid. Petitioner
acknowledged at trial that she did not ask Mr. Hopkins whether he
had made any payments on the amounts reported as due and owing.
She assumed that if Mr. Hopkins had not paid some or all of the
tax liabilities, then any amounts owed would be paid from either
the balance of the proceeds from foreclosure on their home or
from a disbursement from Mr. Hopkins’s section 401(k) account.
Petitioner did not offer any evidence demonstrating that it would
have been reasonable for her to believe that Mr. Hopkins paid the
reported tax liabilities for the years at issue.
Moreover, petitioner has failed to prove she would be unable
to pay her reasonable basic living expenses if relief were
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Last modified: November 10, 2007