Don’t let him take you to Texas for a divorce
I am pretty reluctant to put this article up. But, it is a good example of a misinterpretations of the law. The article says, "a friend of mine claims that the Texas legal system is totally anti-female." Well, that may be (I don't know I don't practice in Texas), but the article goes on to say that Texas is not a community property state. Not true. It says Texas puts a cap on child support where California does not. This is a gross oversimplification that does not tell a fair story, for Californians or for Texans. Bottom line is if you want real advice, get it from a lawyer who can tell you what your rights really are.
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Don’t let him take you to Texas for a divorce
By SHARON WOODSON-BRYANT 03.JAN.08
It had been a long time since I listened to Steve Harvey’s radio show, so I had no idea that he and his wife were divorced or that I was about to unravel a juicy black soap opera to entertain me over the holidays.
There wasn’t much on TV and I decided to catch up on my reading. So I was surprised to stumble on a story about a lawsuit filed in November by Harvey’s ex-wife, Mary Harvey. She claimed that both Harvey and their long-time Houston attorney, Ricky Anderson, conspired against her during their 2005 divorce proceedings by convincing her to let Anderson represent both parties. The result, according to the lawsuit, was an unfair settlement leaving the former Mrs. Harvey out in the relative cold.
What’s more, Mary Harvey claims that one of the reasons her former husband pressured her to use Anderson as her attorney was to settle the divorce quickly and quietly in order to protect Steve Harvey’s public image. She accused the performer of trying to cover up his adultery, his poor and neglectful parenting “and physical and mental abuse of” Mary Harvey.
According to the complaint, “All of this was also done under the guise of protecting Steve Harvey’s image, who attempts to promote a packaged do-good, likable, Christian-type image in the public eye.” Among the claims, Mary Harvey was suing for breach of contract, common law fraud, professional negligence and conspiracy.
As I continued online research, I learned that Harvey had been married for 10 years and his divorce from Mary became final in December 2005. Then last July MediaTakeOut.com reported that Harvey and his fiancée Marjorie Bridges were secretly wed in a small religious ceremony in a “romantic setting” in Hawaii. The ceremony was performed by the Rev. T.D. Jakes, and was attended by the couple’s close family and friends. This marriage will be the third for both of them.
Always looking for a good plot, I began to wonder if Mary’s complaint had anything to do with the recent remarriage. I also questioned why a woman filing for a divorce would agree to use a lawyer who was also working for the husband. But what was even more puzzling was that she ended up with only $1,000 a month for herself and their son, Wynton.
According to the lawsuit, when Mary Harvey asked about child support, Anderson told her she could not legally receive more than $1,000 a month, despite the fact that community assets, including property in Texas, several bank accounts, investments and business interests are estimated at more than $10 million. In addition, Mary Harvey did not receive health insurance or continued payments from the couple’s businesses as she was promised.
Nevertheless, Anderson told Mary Harvey before signing the papers that she was getting a “great deal,” it states in the complaint. He also told her that the estate would be divided equally, but when it came time to sign the divorce papers the day the couple appeared in court, Anderson told Mary Harvey she needed to sign the papers quickly and did not give her a chance to read the documents. Afterwards, once the divorce was granted, the lawyer refused to divide up the property as he said he would do.
Still not understanding how something this unfair could happen, a friend of mine claims that the Texas legal system is totally anti-female. She said that this is why so many men try to figure out some way to file for divorce in this state instead of filing in other equitable jurisdictions. They have a cap on child support and unlike California, it is not a community property state so the woman will never get a 50-50 split. Unless they try what Mary Harvey did.
According to the Dallas Morning News online, Steve Harvey was not laughing on Dec. 12 when he had to testify during a hearing regarding a motion of contempt concerning finances and property in question from their divorce. “State District Judge Robert Dry did not make a ruling at the hearing, but did remind Mr. Harvey at one point that one possible punishment was jail time if the contempt ruling went against him. Mr. Harvey looked shocked and had a few words with his attorney before taking the stand.”
Well, guess what? Right before Christmas, according to MediaTakeOut.com, the shocking abuse lawsuit came to an end. Apparently Steve decided to open up his wallet and his ex-wife is very close to reaching a monetary settlement. There was no more joking around with him facing jail time if the judge ruled that he had contemptuously withheld vital information.
According to one person familiar with the case, Steve offered Mary approximately $10 million to settle the suit and Mary is expected to accept the offer. MediaTakeOut.com said that the insider revealed “Court documents have Steve’s net worth at around $20 million, so he’s basically offering half of everything he owns to make this lawsuit go away. ... He really wants this lawsuit, and all the nasty allegations in it, to disappear because it’s starting to hurt his image.”
I say the moral to this story is if you are having marital problems don’t let your man talk you into moving to Texas. And no matter where you live, always get your own lawyer.
