Sechrest v. United States

351 F. Supp. 344, 31 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 900, 1972 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10931
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. North Carolina
DecidedNovember 29, 1972
DocketNo. C-56-G-72
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 351 F. Supp. 344 (Sechrest v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. North Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sechrest v. United States, 351 F. Supp. 344, 31 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 900, 1972 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10931 (M.D.N.C. 1972).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

GORDON, Chief Judge.

This action was initiated by the plaintiffs for a refund of federal income taxes and interest in the amount of $4,418.40 paid by the plaintiffs for the year 1967. The parties have stipulated to the facts of the case and the matter is now before the Court on cross motions for summary judgment.

The plaintiff, Darrell Sechrest, married Barbara Sechrest in 1945. There were two children born during the marriage. Darrell and Barbara separated in 1961 and on April 2,1965, they executed a contract and deed of separation dated March 31, 1965. The contract and deed of separation was incorporated into a divorce decree granted on April 26, 1965.

Under the contract and decree of separation, Darrell Sechrest promised to make monthly payments for the support and maintenance of Barbara and their [345]*345two minor children. The monthly payments were on a sliding scale ranging from a possible $250.00 a month, to $1,-375.00 a month, depending on Darrell’s annual adjusted gross income. Also incorporated into the contract and decree was an agreement by Darrell Sechrest that in the event his former wife Barbara remarried, he would pay to her within thirty days after her remarriage “a lump sum in an amount equivalent to twelve times the monthly .payment due and payable by the party of the first part [Darrell Sechrest] to the party of the second part [Barbara Sechrest] for the month preceding the month in which the party of the second part remarries.”

In 1967 Barbara Sechrest remarried and at the time of her remarriage, the plaintiff Darrell Sechrest was making payments of $750.00 per month. The plaintiff complied with the agreement and made a lump sum payment of $9,-000.00 to Barbara.

Then Darrell also remarried in 1967 and in filing a joint income tax return for that year, the plaintiffs claimed a deduction of alimony in the amount of $15,875.00 of which $6,875.00 was the sum of the regular monthly payments made, to Barbara before her remarriage. The Commissioner of Internal Revenue disallowed the remaining $9,000.00 and assessed a deficiency which the plaintiffs paid prior to instituting this suit.

The very narrow question of law facing this Court is whether periodic alimony payments when lumped together and paid at one time lose their "periodic” character and hence are no longer deductible by the payor. In attempting to answer this difficult question, the Court was greatly aided by excellent briefs by counsel for both parties and after much study and consideration, the Court concludes that the final payment made by the plaintiff did not lose its periodic status, and therefore, the Commission incorrectly assessed a deficiency against the plaintiffs.

The relevant sections- of the Internal Revenue Code are § 71(a)(1) and § 215 (a). Section 71(a)(1) reads as follows:

“DECREE OF DIVORCE OR SEPARATE MAINTENANCE. — If a wife is divorced or legally separated from her husband under a decree of divorce or of separate maintenance, the wife’s gross income includes periodic payments (whether or not made at regular intervals) received after such decree in discharge of (or attributable to property transferred, in trust or otherwise, in discharge of) a legal obligation which, because of the marital or family relationship, is imposed on or incurred by the husband- under the decree or under a written instrument incident to such divorce or separation.”

Section 215(a) reads in pertinent part:

“GENERAL RULE. — In the case of á husband described in section 71, there shall be allowed as a deduction amounts includible under section 71 in the gross income of his wife, payment of which is made within the husband’s taxable year.”

The Commissioner first questions whether the $9,000.00 payment was even in the nature of alimony or whether the payment was more of a property settlement between the divorced spouses. He points out that the $9,000.00 payment has little resemblance to the $750.-00 payments which are admittedly a division of income and admittedly periodic alimony payments. -However, a reading of the rather lengthy contract and separation decree, particularly the paragraphs dealing with the division of property, convinces the Court that the $9,-000.00 payment was not a part of the property settlement but a continuation of the division of income.

The Court is influenced by the fact th.at the size of the payment to be made on the remarriage of Barbara was determined by the amount of her monthly payment which in turn was determined solely on the plaintiff’s annual income. Other factors which the Court finds pertinent in determining that the payment was in the nature of alimony or the obligation of marital support are the fact that the payment was contin[346]*346gent on the remarriage of Barbara and that the divorce decree indicates that a great deal of time and study was made in determining the size of the monthly payments which in turn influenced the size of the payment that would be made if Barbara remarried — all of which points to a conscientious effort being made to determine the extent of the plaintiff’s obligation to support his divorced wife. Bernatschke v. United States, 364 F.2d 400, 176 Ct.Cl. 1234 (1966).

The Commissioner next argues that, even assuming the payment was in support of the plaintiff’s marital obligation, it could not be deducted as a periodic payment as the agreement itself calls for a “lump sum.” Admittedly, the $9,000.00 payment appears to be outside the generally accepted notions of periodic payments, and yet the payment is tied inseparably to the monthly payments. If it is a lump sum payment, it is clearly a lump sum of periodic payments. Had the agreement provided for the monthly payments to continue for one year after the remarriage of Barbara instead of giving her the twelve payments at once, there would be no question that the payments were periodic and therefore deductible. Hollander v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 248 F.2d 523 (9th Cir. 1957).

The Commissioner has directed the Court’s attention to four cases which he contends support his position that any type of lump sum payment cannot qualify as periodic payments. An examination of these cases, however, reveals several features which distinguish them from the instant case and which prevent these cases from being conclusive in this matter.

In the case of Norton v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 192 F.2d 960 (8th Cir. 1951), the separation agreement provided for periodic alimony payments and in addition to these payments, a sum of $5,000.00 as additional alimony was to be paid forthwith. The court decree of divorce made no reference to the $5,000.-00, but it was paid by the plaintiff. The $5,000.00 was disallowed as an alimony deduction by the Commissioner and the Tax Court sustained the Commissioner’s ruling. The Court of Appeals affirmed the Tax Court and noted that since the $5,000.00 was not a part of the court decree as was the periodic payments, the $5,000.00 was a part of a voluntary agreement, and therefore, the two agreements were separate and distinct obligations. The Court quoted with approval from the decision of the Tax Court:

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Bluebook (online)
351 F. Supp. 344, 31 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 900, 1972 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10931, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sechrest-v-united-states-ncmd-1972.