Jon Gosselin Seeks Modification of Custody and Support 0
The former stars of TLC reality show Jon and Kate Plus Eight, Jon Gosselin and Kate Gosselin, are back in court just months after their divorce was finalized. Jon Gosselin filed a Complaint in Custody and for Child Support in Berks County, Pennsylvania, seeking primary physical custody of the former couple’s nine-year-old twins and almost six-year-old sextuplets. He also wants the existing child support order reviewed.
The Gosselins finalized their divorce via arbitration in December, 2009. Interestingly, the arbitrator’s decision gave primary residential custody of the children to Kate Gosselin and awarded periods of custody to Jon – the schedule of said custodial arrangement to be determined solely by Kate on a weekly basis.
Jon now says that Kate abuses her discretionary authority regarding the scheduling. The court documents provide no further detail to the allegations. Jon and his attorneys have, however, described Kate to the press as an “absentee parent” because of her stint on Dancing with the Stars, which shoots in Los Angeles. Kate reportedly practices for the show in the family home in Pennsylvania.
Kate replied to the media taunts, saying she’s “a single working mom [who] will do everything necessary to provide for my kids despite the opinions of others.” Sources in Kate’s camp argue that Jon has been largely absent lately due to a dating relationship.
Jon’s filing also seeks a de novo review of the child support order, in which he is required to pay $21,000 a month in child support. This request has nothing to do with the custody request. Instead, Jon claims that the arbitrator made mistakes in establishing the level of support by failing to take into account certain income of Kate’s and by failing to require Kate to prove certain child expenses.
Very interesting that this complaint comes four months after the child support was established. Presumably, Jon should have had these same concerns at the time of the order. It is unclear why he waited so long to seek review.
The judge in Pennsylvania could certainly prove me wrong but, based on Jon’s basic argument that Kate has been absent during taping of DWTS, I would be surprised if he or she would modify custody. If there is more to the argument, obviously, this could be different – but a short-term job is unlikely to trigger a change in custody.
Library Topics: divorce, Pennsylvania family law, physical custody, child support
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