Who Will Get Custody of Michael Jackson’s Kids?

June 29th, 2009 by Hadley | Posted in Custody | No Comments »

Rumors are circulating that Katherine Jackson, Michael Jackson’s mother, currently has custody of his three children, and plans to fight for custody of them. Debbie Rowe is the biological mother of Michael’s two older children, Michael Joseph Jr. and Paris Michael Katherine. The Rowe and Jackson were married in November 1996 when Rowe was already pregnant with Michael Jr. Michael Jr. was born in February of 1997 and Rowe gave birth to Paris on April of 1998. The couple divorced shortly thereafter, reportedly because Rowe was unable to have more children after the difficult birth of Paris. Rowe was paid a multimillion dollar settlement in exchange for giving Jackson custody of her two children. Jackson’s third child, Blanket, was born via an unknown surrogate.
According to TMZ, Jackson family lawyers have indicated that Katherine wants custody of all three children. If Rowe were to fight for custody, Jackson would have a difficult fight on her hands. Katherine would have to prove that Rowe was unfit to have custody, and that is a pretty high bar. It is not a “best interest of the child” standard, as it would be in a divorce case, because this involves a biological mother and a third party relative. However, it would appear from media reports that Rowe is unlikely to pursue custody of her children as she has not previously maintained contact with them.

Jon & Kate Update

June 25th, 2009 by Hadley | Posted in Divorce Trends | No Comments »

Kate Gosselin filed for divorce in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, on June 22, 2009. The interesting thing is, the Gosselin’s do not live in Montgomery County, they live in Berks County Pennsylvania. Standard procedure in a divorce case is you file in the county where the Defendant resides, so how are they escaping that rule of law? And how ironic is that the Gosselin’s want the divorce papers kept confidential when they make their living on a reality television show?
Kate also checked two boxes, one indicating the marriage is irretrievably broken, and one stating that she and Jon have lived separate and apart for two years, apparently in an effort to hedge her bets in case Jon decides to argue about whether or not the marriage is irretrievably broken. In most cases, it’s enough for one party to state that the marriage is irretrievably broken, since it takes two people to make a marriage work. It will be interesting to see how Jon responds.

Laila Ali Takes On Husband’s Ex

June 24th, 2009 by Hadley | Posted in Child Support | 1 Comment »

Laila Ali’s husband, Curtis Conway, is in the midst of a bitter fight over child support with his ex-wife Leoria Sanamu Conway. Leoria is seeking more child support and is trying to prove Conway’s financial situation has improved because of his marriage to Laila Ali. According to TMZ, Leoria is trying to subpoena Laila’s financial information, including information regarding any potential inheritance from her dad, Muhammad Ali. Laila and Conway have asked the judge to deny the request, arguing it’s an invasion of privacy and made for the purpose of harassing Laila. Most judges will not consider the income of a parties’ spouse when calculating child support. Financially supporting the child is considered the obligation of the parent, not the spouse. Information regarding an inheritance is usually considered purely speculative, and it is very unlikely the judge will allow that information to come into evidence.

Jon and Kate Split

June 23rd, 2009 by Hadley | Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Jon and Kate Gosselin, stars of the TLC reality show Jon & Kate Plus Eight, have announced that they will separate. Kate has filed for divorce in a Pennsylvania court. Is this a ratings ploy or the demise of a family that crumbled under the glare of reality television? Both parties are claiming their eight children will remain their priority, but won’t the kids have to remain their priority since they are the couple’s source of income? The couple has built their lives around the filming of their family life, but their marital woes make a person wonder at what cost. What happens to the television show now that the couple has decided to split? What kind of deal will they make with TLC, since it seems clear the Gosselins want to keep the show going at all costs? Or is this all just a ratings ploy to generate publicity for a show that prior to the parties’ well publicized marital problems was not generating that much interest? What type of custody arrangement will they come to and how will that effect the filming of the show? Guess we will have to stay tuned to see.

Kelis’ Expenses Exceed $80,000 Per Month

June 18th, 2009 by Hadley | Posted in Child Support, Divorce Trends | No Comments »

No wonder Kelis is going after Nas for some financial support. According to TMZ, Kelis just filed her financial affidavit with the court and her monthly expenses are $80,831 per month. What, you may ask yourself, does one spend $80,831 a month on? Well, $14,861 goes to the mortgage, the nanny is $3,500 a month, and then you have your entertainment, gifts and vacations at $15,000 per month. Kelis claims her income is only $21,616 per month and that most of her income comes from her concerts. Unfortunately for her, she hasn’t toured in a year. It will be interesting to see how the court views her spending in light of her income and the $60,000 short fall she has in her budget every month.

Billy Joel and Wife Split

June 17th, 2009 by Hadley | Posted in Divorce Trends, Family Law | 1 Comment »

According to the New York Post, after five years of marriage, Billy Joel and current wife Katie Lee have announced they are divorcing. Rumors have swirled for months that Lee has been having an affair with Yigal Azrouel, a fashion designer who often escorts her to events. Much has been made of the age difference between Joel, 60, and Lee, 27. For those wondering, Azrouel is a more age appropriate 36. Joel met Lee when she worked as a restaurant correspondent for a television show on PBS, and they married at his Long Island home in October 2004. This was Joel’s third marriage: his first was to his business manager, Elizabeth Weber, which ended in divorce in 1982 after nine years, and he split from second wife Christy Brinkley, in 1994, also after nine years of marriage.

Kelis Claims Poverty In Divorce From Nas

June 15th, 2009 by Hadley | Posted in Child Support, Family Law, Star Divorces | No Comments »

According to TMZ, Kelis, the soon to be ex-wife of rapper Nas, is claiming the rapper has left her penniless in the wake of the impending birth of their child. The couple married in 2003 and the baby is due this month. Kelis filed legal papers claiming she is broke and Nas isn’t paying her any support, including any of the pre-natal expenses related to their child. Kelis is asking that the court order Nas to pay spousal support, child support, all pregnancy related expenses, $3,500 for a nurse after the child’s birth, and $20,000 for baby supplies such as strollers and cribs.
Interestingly enough, Kelis, in her claim that she is entitled to maintain the lifestyle she became accustomed to during the marriage, listed a bevy of pricey jewelry she has, including “… a princess-cut diamond tennis bracelet that was recently appraised for $190,000. My engagement ring is an approximately nine-carat cushion-cut diamond solitaire. I have numerous watches…such as Cartier, Rolex, Frank Muller and Chopard.”
You would think that if Kelis were that broke, she would be selling some of the jewelry. Although in Georgia, when a divorce is filed, there is an automatic standing order that issues preventing parties from disposing of marital assets, except in the ordinary course of business, so perhaps California has a similar order that is preventing her from doing so. Or maybe she would rather just hang on to the jewels and have Nas pony up some cash.

Usher Files For Divorce

June 15th, 2009 by Hadley | Posted in Child Support, Custody, Family Law | No Comments »

Usher has filed for divorce from his wife of almost two years, Tameka Foster Raymond. According to TMZ, Usher filed in Fulton County, Georgia, on Friday, June 12th. Usher and Tameka have two children, ages 18 months and 6 months. No news on whether or not the couple has a prenuptial agreement. The bad news for Tameka is that Georgia is an equitable property state, and given that the marriage lasted less than two years, it is unlikely she is going to walk away with much as far as marital assets. The good news is they have two really young children, so assuming she is the children’s primary physical custodian, she will be collecting child support for years to come. However, under the Georgia child support statute, once you earn $360,000 a year the presumptive amount of child support levels out. So assuming no other expenses, such as a nanny, Usher’s presumptive child support for two children is only $3,066.00 per month. Not exactly enough to support a lifestyle of the rich and famous.

Rumble in the Seymour - Brant Divorce Jungle

June 9th, 2009 by Hadley | Posted in Custody, Star Divorces | No Comments »

It’s a definite sign your divorce is getting ugly when both parties hire body guards. Former supermodel Stephanie Seymour is getting divorced from her polo-playing husband Peter Brant after 16 years of marriage. According to the New York Post’s Page 6, Seymour was issued a public-disturbance summons Saturday night after she yanked the keys out of a Brant-hired security guard’s car, threw them in the bushes, and then used her Range Rover to block the driveway of the couple’s Greenwich, Conn., estate. On Thursday, a Brant guard was busted for allegedly shoving Seymour. Seymour since has hired her own guards.
Seymour is a former Victoria’s Secret Angel and a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model. Brant made his fortune with White Birch Paper Co., which operates pulp and paper mills.
The battle is expected to get even uglier because Brant is asking for custody of the couple’s three children, ages 4 to 15, and has accused Seymour of being an unfit mother. Proving someone is an unfit parent is pretty tough. Especially if, as it appears Brant has done, you leave the kids with the alleged unfit parent while you travel out of town. Or in this case, out of the country. It becomes a credibility issue when the parent is willing to leave the kids with the other parent while they’re married, but as soon as the divorce is filed, claims that parent is unfit. So we’ll have to stay tuned and see what happens.

Brian Grazer’s Divorce Final

May 22nd, 2009 by Hadley | Posted in Family Law, Prenuptial Agreements | 1 Comment »

Producer Brian Grazer and wife, Gigi’s, marriage of eleven years is over. Gigi will receive a one-time payment of $4.5 million, another $8.75 million to pay off the balance on a piece of property that is already in her name, and $40,000 a month in child support for their two kids, of whom they will share custody. This is what your mother meant when she told you it is just as easy to fall in love with a rich man (or woman) as a poor one.
Luckily Grazer had the foresight to have a prenuptial agreement because Gigi was originally asking for nearly $1 million a month is alimony and child support. She also managed to rack up almost $500,000 in attorney fees, no doubt trying to get out of the prenuptial agreement. Grazer has been ordered to pay her attorney fees.

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