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and the division of their assets and property. Petitioner
obviously did not agree with all of the proposed items listed in
the letter. At best, there was nothing more than a unilateral
offer to enter into a separation agreement. Estate of Hill v.
Commissioner, 59 T.C. 846, 856-857 (1973).
Second, petitioner’s action in writing checks to Ms. Deluca,
bearing the notation “support”, does not qualify as a writing
showing assent to the attorney’s proposal, as required by the
statute. The fact that petitioner made the notations on the
checks does not show that he agreed to provide support under a
written separation agreement. See Ewell v. Commissioner, supra.
There is no evidence in this record that there was ever any pre-
existing written agreement between Ms. Deluca and petitioner that
set monthly support payments. The parties continued to negotiate
without success and under contentious conditions during most of
2002. Petitioner testified that he retained an attorney in March
of that year and “then we started negotiating.” Their failure to
reach an agreement on the terms of their separation resulted in
Ms. Deluca’s attorney’s filing for her divorce from petitioner in
the Circuit Court of Fairfax County, Virginia. Hearings in that
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Last modified: March 27, 2008