Thomas B. Blake v. Commissioner, Internal Revenue, Joyce M. Blake v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue

Periodic payments pursuant to a divorce settlement are taxable as income to the receiving spouse and deductible by the paying spouse only when the payment period exceeds ten years. In this case, the United States Tax Court determined that a property settlement required payment to be completed within ten years of the divorce decree and held that the payments received by Joyce M. Blake for the years 1979 and 1980, from her former husband, Dr. Thomas B. Blake, Jr., were not taxable to Mrs. Blake under 26 U.S.C.A. § 71 and not deductible by Dr. Blake under 26 U.S.C.A. § 215. The decision turns on…