William Franklin Salzman II - Page 7




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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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