The alimony buyout provision of the parties’ separation agreement was ambiguous and, therefore, absent interpretation and clarification by the trial court, precluded a finding of contempt against husband for failing to comply with the agreement; it was unclear whether the payment at issue was intended to be in the nature of a property distribution or lump sum alimony, it was described as being nontaxable to wife and nondeductible to husband, which is not typical for alimony, and the agreement was silent as to what forms of payment were acceptable for the satisfaction of the alimony buyout provision.
http://www.jud.ct.gov/external/supapp/Cases/AROcr/CR315/315CR13.pdf
Laura W. Morgan is the owner and operator at Family Law Consulting in Charlottesville, Virginia.Laura is available for consultation, brief writing and research on family law issues throughout the country. She can be reached through her website. www.famlawconsult.com
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