Lam v. The Queen, 2012 DTC 1091 [at at 2939], 2012 TCC 54 (Informal Procedure) -- summary under Support Amount

Sheridan J. found that the taxpayer could not deduct the $40,000 he paid his former common-law spouse in monthly instalments of $1,500, because (following the McKimmon test) they "were installments on a capital amount rather than an allowance for maintenance" (para. 5). The agreement between the taxpayer and his spouse specified that the taxpayer would be released from any future obligations to pay maintenance. Moreover, the payments were to continue even if the spouse were to die before the payment period concluded.