Rule #1 of divorce and child custody cases: It’s expensive to fight over these things in court.

Noella Bergener, one of the cast members of Real Housewives of Orange County (RHOC), has found out the hard way. But she made it even worse on herself by assuming that her ex was paying her legal fees, and then ignoring her attorneys’ requests to get paid.

Bergener now owes over $400k for a paternity suit over her daughter that was filed in 2014. The case dragged on for 4 years before being settled. She owed her law firm Fried and Goldsman $293k. They tried over and over to collect, but apparently she ignored them because she thought her husband James Bergener was going to pay the bill as part of their divorce settlement.

Interest of $116k and other fees of $5k were added to what she owed to bring the total over $400k. And she apparently blew off the lawsuit for the fees, which resulted in the default judgment.

Don’t be like Noella. Don’t ignore your attorney when he or she is requesting that you pay your bill. And don’t assume someone else is paying your bill and fail to show up for your court hearing about it.

More celebrity divorce news. The nearly two-year divorce fight between Kelly Clarkson and Brandon Blackstock has been settled. Kelly will have primary custody of their children, and Brandon will have them one weekend a month.

Kelly will keep Warren Peak Ranch in Montana (worth about $17.75 million). Brandon can stay there until June 1, but has to pay $12,500 rent per month. She also keeps the property on Cattle Drive, and he has to pay her $52,000 rent per month on that until he is gone in June. She keeps pets, cars (Ford Bronco, Ford F-250), Porsche Cayenne), and a flight simulator.

Brandon gets the farm cattle, livestock, stock dogs, and horses. He also gets vehicles including a Ford F-350, a Ford F-250, an ATV, and several CAT snowmobiles. He gets a golf simulator and some Patek Philippe watches. Continue reading

A couple of weeks ago, singer Kelly Clarkson was ordered to pay her soon-to-be ex-husband Brandon Blackstock $150,000 per month of spousal support (alimony) and $45,601 in child support. Some people are criticizing this award and referring to it as “manimony.”

This order of the court is temporary, but will total over $2.3 million per year if it continues for the long term. Clarkson and Blackstock have two children together, ages 5 and 7.  Blackstock initially requested $436,000 per month of support, so the temporary award is less than half that amount.

Why has Kelly been ordered to pay so much?

The biggest reason is probably Clarkson’s income. Court documents show that she makes $1.9 million per month. Blackstock doesn’t seem to make a whole lot of money. The courts look at the relative income of the parties, and want to make sure that the non-monied spouse is able to continue to live a lifestyle equivalent to that of the marriage. (That’s why a lifestyle analysis is often done in high net worth cases.) We look at the “marital standard of living” and do calculations to determine how much the spouses need after the divorce to continue this standard of living. Continue reading

Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth were married in December 2018, and filed for divorce less than a year later. They had dated on and off for ten years before getting married, and the reasons for their split are in dispute.

It was widely reported a couple of days ago that the divorce was final, but actually the divorce doesn’t become final until six months after the filing date. That means Miley and Liam will be officially divorced in February.

Miley and Liam worked out a divorce settlement in December, and it involves neither of them receiving spousal support from the other. Why is no one receiving alimony? Two reasons may be in play here. First, it has been reported that there was prenuptial agreement, and it likely says that no one receives spousal support.

Second, even if there was not a prenup dictating these terms, it is likely that neither would receive spousal support because they each make plenty of money independently. In other words, neither Liam nor Miley needs money from the other person to maintain their lifestyle. Continue reading

When child support or spousal support is calculated for a “normal” person, we often use a percentage of income. It’s simple. It’s often fair. And it’s a way to standardize things.

When someone makes a ton of money, calculating support based on a percentage of income isn’t necessarily so fair. If someone is making $75,000 per year and the ex-spouse is not employed, paying 25% of the income ($18,750 per year) in child support might seem reasonable. (There are lots of factors involved… I’m using the simplest possible scenario here.

But if someone makes $5,000,000 per year and has an ex-spouse who is not working, is the same 25% ($1,250,000 per year) fair. Many times the answer is no.

In the case of actor Dennis Quaid, the divorce agreement with his ex-wife Kimberly specified $13,750 per month of child support ($165,000 per year). However, if he made more than $1.3 million in a given year, the amount was to be increased. In a recent court filing reported on by TMZ, Quaid admitted to earning approximately $550,000 per month in 2019 (or $6.6 million for the year). Continue reading