Irene Gowetz, Executors v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue

ALDRICH, Circuit Judge.

The question raised in this petition to review a decision of the Tax Court is what deduction may be made from the gross estate of a Massachusetts decedent because of an obligation to pay alimony to his former wife. 1 Prior to a divorce the decedent had entered into a separation agreement to pay $500 a month to his wife for life as long as she remained unmarried. It was not expressly stated that the obligation would continue after the husband’s death. The ensuing divorce decree did not in terms incorporate the agreement, but notice was taken thereof and no independent…