On April 6, 2020, the Tax Court issued a Memorandum Opinion in the case of Biddle v. Commissioner (T.C. Memo. 2020-39). The issue before the court in Biddle v. Commissioner was whether the petitioner’s payments to his former spouse, which, under the terms of a divorce decree, ended at his youngest child’s 18th birthday, were deductible alimony payments under IRC § 215 or whether the contingency related to his children transformed the “alimony” into nondeductible child support. Background to Biddle v. Commissioner The petitioner divorced his wife in 2010. The divorce decree included provisions pertaining to “child support” and “alimony.” The petitioner was ordered to pay his ex-spouse monthly child support and alimony. Under both the child support and alimony provisions the petitioner would be discharged from his payment obligation under certain conditions, one of which was each child reaching the age of majority. On his 2015 return, the petitioner…