Justin H. Kimball v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue

MESKILL, Circuit Judge:

This appeal presents us with questions arising out of the interaction of sections of the Internal Revenue Code (Code) that outline the deductibility of certain alimony payments with state law concepts that define the duration and effect of the terms of a divorce decree. Specifically, we must decide whether, under Connecticut law, alimony payments are presumed to cease upon the death of the payor spouse and are thus, in the absence of any express provisions to the contrary, sufficiently “contingent” to be deductible from the payor spouse’s taxable income pursuant to…