Divorce is an unfortunate fact of modern life. Fortunately, most divorces are settled out-of-court, with a minimum of intervention from lawyers and judges, which makes the process easier for everyone involved. Sometimes, however, the former couple just cannot agree on what each party should take away from the marriage financially, and that’s when things can get messy.
For most ex-couples, determining alimony and/or child support is a straightforward process of figuring out how much money each former spouse should receive, by law, and what percentage of the non-custodial parent’s income goes to support his or her children. But when couples are worth millions, or even billions, the stakes are raised exponentially and prenuptial agreements really start to prove their worth.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at which celebs are paying out the most cash in alimony and child support these days.
Charlie Sheen
As part of his 2011 divorce settlement from Brook Mueller, Charlie Sheen was ordered to pay $55,000 per month child support for their twin sons. Added to the $50,000 Sheen pays ex-wife Denise Richards each month in support for daughters Sam and Lola, and the former “Two and a Half Men” star is on the hook for nearly $1.3 million in support payments yearly.
Jim Nantz
CBS sportscaster Jim Nantz pays almost $1 million yearly in combined alimony and child support payments to his ex-wife Lorrie. Nantz paid $1,000 weekly in child support for his daughter, who was 15 at the time of the divorce in November 2009, as well as $72,000 per month in alimony. He also agreed to pay his daughter’s future college costs.
Nas
Rapper Nas and wife Kelis divorced in 2009, when she was seven months pregnant with their son. An ugly child support battle followed, with Nas initially ordered to pay more than $40,000 per month in child support payments. That was reduced to $25,000 monthly in 2011. Nas also pays an undisclosed amount of support for a daughter from a previous relationship.
Russell Simmons
Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons pays $40,000 per month in child support for his two daughters with ex-wife Kimora Lee Simmons, with payments to continue until both girls reach age 19 1/2. Simmons also forks over cash every three years for an automobile costing at least $60,000, to be used to transport the kids.
Martin Brodeur
Martin Brodeur, long-time goalie for the National Hockey League’s New Jersey Devils, was rather spectacularly served with divorce papers during the 2003 Stanley Cup playoffs. Brodeur was having an affair with his brother’s wife, who was living with the couple to help take care of their three children. Brodeur appealed a lower court’s ruling that awarded ex-wife Melanie DuBois permanent alimony, and in 2009 was ordered to pay $500,000 a year alimony through 2020, as well as $11,000 monthly in child support. DuBois also received more than $9 million in other assets in the divorce settlement.
Mel Gibson
In September 2010 a family court judge boosted Mel Gibson’s monthly child support payments to former girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva from $5,000 to $20,000 per month. The couple’s daughter, Lucia, was born in October 2009. A year later Gibson was ordered to pay out half of his reported $850 million net worth when his divorce from wife of 30 years, Robyn Gibson, was finalized. She also gets a share of future profits from all the movies he made while they were married.
