Wolfson v. Commissioner
United States Tax Court
Petitioners, husband and wife during the taxable years, were engaged in divorce proceedings. They filed joint income tax returns for those years. Held, litigation expenses incurred by the wife were not deductible in the joint returns. Those expenses related in substantial part to the spouses' community property, and to the extent that they related to alimony they were allocable to alimony pendente lite which was not reportable as income in the joint returns.
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Petitioners, husband and wife during the taxable years, were engaged in divorce proceedings. They filed joint income tax returns for those years. Held, litigation expenses incurred by the wife were not deductible in the joint returns. Those expenses related in substantial part to the spouses' community property, and to the extent that they related to alimony they were allocable to alimony pendente lite which was not reportable as income in the joint returns. Sec. 71(a)(3), I.R.C. 1954. The wife abandoned her claim to permanent alimony and any possible remaining portion of the litigation…
1Opinion of the Court
OPINION
Raum, Judge:
Petitioners no longer contend that they are entitled to deduct the full amounts claimed on their returns. Thus, the husband, who represented both spouses at the hearing, appeared to recognize that under United States v. Gilmore, 372 U.S. 39, and United States v. Patrick, 372 U.S. 53, the expenses in the divorce proceedings incurred by him might not be deductible,1 and he conceded that the portion of the legal fees which he paid to his wife’s attorney could not be deducted.2 It is his contention, however, that the portion of the expenses paid by her in respect of alimony is…
2Cases cited6 opinions
- United States v. GilmoreSupreme Court of the United States · 1963
- United States v. PatrickSupreme Court of the United States · 1963
- Le Mond v. CommissionerUnited States Tax Court · 1949
- Korman v. CommissionerUnited States Tax Court · 1961
- Buckley v. CommissionerUnited States Tax Court · 1962
1 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.
3Cited by4 opinions
- Jernigan v. CommissionerUnited States Tax Court · 1975
- Sunderland v. CommissionerUnited States Tax Court · 1977
- William M. Barry & Trudi G. Swain v. CommissionerUnited States Tax Court · 2017
- Wolfson v. CommissionerUnited States Tax Court · 1966