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that the payments do not terminate upon the death of either of
them.
Although section 71(b)(1)(D), as it was enacted in 1984,
originally required that a divorce or separation instrument
affirmatively state that liability for payments terminates upon
the death of the payee spouse in order to be considered alimony,
the statute was retroactively amended in 1986 so that such
payments now qualify as alimony as long as termination of the
liability would occur upon the death of the payee spouse by
operation of State law. Hoover v. Commissioner, 102 F.3d 842,
845-846 (6th Cir. 1996), affg. T.C. Memo. 1995-183. Petitioner’s
agreement and the divorce decree are silent on whether his
monthly payments of $500 to his former wife, totaling $24,000 for
the fixed 4-year period, would survive her death as a matter of
law. Consequently, our analysis is guided by Texas State law.
Section 7.006 of the Texas Family Code provides for written
agreements incident to divorce:
(a) To promote amicable settlement of disputes in a
suit for divorce or annulment, the spouses may enter into a
written agreement concerning the division of the property
and the liabilities of the spouses and maintenance of either
spouse. The agreement may be revised or repudiated before
rendition of the divorce or annulment unless the agreement
is binding under another rule of law.
Tex. Fam. Code Ann. sec. 7006(a) (Vernon 2006).
Under Texas State law contractual support payments do not
terminate on the death of the former payee spouse absent
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