Jon and Kate Plus 8, Official Thread--Part 7

[MAKmom]

Jon's court papers says Kate has a million she can get her hands on. Do you think that is the children's money? I assume when they talk about 14 accounts 8 would be the childrens trust....if that is how she set them up. The kids are walking away with $125,000 each if it is only a $1,000,000 that was put aside for them. I hope she sets it up so the money can not be touched.

 

[3prettyprincesses]

Like you said Madge, this is just the tip of the iceberg.

I have to say I wasn't surprised to see that Jon had released these documents. He's been saying the same thing all week, but IMO Mark Momjian going out there and talking about Kate needing temporary child support because Jon had (he alleged) wiped out their bank account was pushing it a bit, especially with the meeting with the arbitrator coming up in just days.

Having said that, neither the judge nor the arbitrator are going to care who is winning in the court of public opinion. They should all shut up.

Why wasn't Mark Heller listed on the papers as counsel/attorney? It was apparently filed with Charles Meyer who I thought was left Jon?

ETA: I found out that Charles Meyer is still Jon's PA lawyer and Mark Heller is his NY lawyer:

http://www.etonline.com/documents/gosselinstatement.pdf

 

[KristiKelly]

Ok, TLC sucks! DH was just flipping thru channels and they had the same "basic" J&K commercial but for the OC Chopper (??) show w/ the dad talking about how the "show" tore his family apart - one of the sons has gone out on his own and he & dad don't talk. That's all TLC is about now is tearing families apart and marketing the family breakdown- SHAME ON THEM!!!

 

[redrosesix]

Just in case anybody wanted to see the link to Kate's petition that was posted on the old thread:
http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2009/10/exclusive-read-secret-gosselin-court-papers-kate-demands-jon-sells-his-cars

 

[redrosesix]

Why wasn't Mark Heller listed on the papers as counsel/attorney? It was apparently filed with Charles Meyer who I thought was left Jon?

ETA: I found out that Charles Meyer is still Jon's PA lawyer and Mark Heller is his NY lawyer:

http://www.etonline.com/documents/gosselinstatement.pdf

Kate's lawyers successfully asked for Heller to be excluded as Jon's counsel after Heller's sponsor in PA withdrew his sponsorship ie. he isn't licensed to practice in PA.

 

[redrosesix]

Jon's court papers says Kate has a million she can get her hands on. Do you think that is the children's money? I assume when they talk about 14 accounts 8 would be the childrens trust....if that is how she set them up. The kids are walking away with $125,000 each if it is only a $1,000,000 that was put aside for them. I hope she sets it up so the money can not be touched.

Well, right now it's set up so that only she can touch it.

 

[WaltD4Me]

Kate's lawyers successfully asked for Heller to be excluded as Jon's counsel after Heller's sponsor in PA withdrew his sponsorship ie. he isn't licensed to practice in PA.

Mark Heller needed a sponsor to vouch for him to practice in PA. He had a sponsor (another attorney) but the sponsor withdrew. I can't remember the sponsor's name, but apparently once he withdrew Attorney Heller could not represent Jon in PA unless he finds another sponsor. The fact the original sponsor withdrew and he seemingly can't find another one says alot about Mr. Heller to me.....none of it good.

 

[SouthernExplorer]

Long-time lurker here. I have been following this conversation for many threads now, and I have reached my breaking point. I am sick and tired of hearing about the Gosselins. Kate did this Jon did that Kevin and Jodie did that blah blah blah blah. I thought that no couple could go lower than Charles and Diana-boy was I wrong. Princes William and Harry appear to be well-adjusted adults given everything that they have gone through which gives me hope that the Gosselin kids will become well-adjusted adults as well.

I have enjoyed your conversation for the most part. I think I am now going to go find a Florida State message board to read up on the Bobby Bowden debate. At least there are no minors involved, and no one is airing dirty laundry.

Farewell

 

[barkley]

i thought it was interesting (and telling) that when larry king asked jon about income jon specifically asked 'just for the show?'. the dollar figure for the family income jon put out was just the fee (or salary or whatever you want to call it) that THE FAMILY received for the episodes, he did'nt say anything about any other sources of income they BOTH received or continue to (he's spoken of KATE'S income from books but seems to forget that he is listed as a co-author on at least one of those books, a book that i believe sold much better than the one kate was listed solely on).

the numbers that keep getting thrown out there as to the gosselin's income, as well as kate's assertions that jon's actions (stopping the show from filming) leaving her/kids in a precarious financial situation just does'nt work for me. i look to all the other sources of income they've had such as-speaking engagements (kate's got at least one this month in long beach i believe, and ones already schedualed into 2010) which reportedly earn them around $25,000 for the fee alone, there were the ones that were held at churches and other venues where 'love offerings' were solicited, the monies that were made at the speaking engagements and churches where photos of the family were sold, the 2 former incarnations of their personal websites (the one that was set up as gosselinsix, and the older version of their current gosselin 10 one) where they featured buisnesses (i would find it very difficult to believe there was'nt financial compensation in the form of direct income or tangible items exchanged for that)...all that adds up, and i would'nt be surprised if the reason the per-episode amount seems to many to be much less than what was previously thought is because jon and kate well knew how much they could reap from these other buisness pursuits and opted to go for a less lucrative contract with tlc that permitted them to continue with these (tlc can scream 'exclusivity' contract with jon all it wants-but what is it 'exclusive' to-"working" on a filmed production? participation in a reality show as jon gosselin?-depending on what was financialy advantagous to both tlc and the gosselins that 'exclusivity' could be very narrowly defined).


i look to kate having 1 appearance (that we know of) schedualed for this month so figure that's $25,000, then she's got 2 already schedualed for next spring so that's what? another $50,000. that's AT MINIMUM $75,000 in anticipated income (and no way if that's all she anticipates they will be anywhere near the 50% tax brack jon was whining about-with all those kids as write offs along with their mortgage interest and other standard deductions it would be almost entirely netted $$$) which equates to 10 months of kate's "share" of the household expenses. household expenses that as many on this thread have pointed out, could be drasticly reduced through lifestyle changes and just personal choice. so what if tlc is'nt paying for many of their expenses anymore-drycleaning? how much drycleaning does a "family" require-for the most part it would be for adult clothing that (i would hope) is'nt your regular wardrobe (non buisness/social), landscape maintainance? do it yourself or do without. nannies, transportation? if you're not off promoting the show or doing related buisness travel it's not necessitated. craft services (meals)-again, if you're not spending your time in production or promotion you're capable of shopping and preparing your own. so many of the expenses could be parred down but even if they could'nt and it remained such that one half of the cost was $7500 per month-she's good for 10 months coverage just based on 3 DAYS of work she's got lined up. i can't imagine that given the other bank accounts and assetts they've got, even if they did'nt receive one penny beyond-that they would be in any immediate financial peril.

 

[madge]

But Jon also has no access to the banking information other than what was provided in Kate's original claim and the information that was passed on to the arbitrator. For example, Kate may indeed have deposited her $7500 per month.

absolutely. Kate may have receipts proving she's done everything she has been required to do by the courts. If she does, though .. why wouldn't she turn them in when she's supposed to? There are several claims of Kate not providing proof or receipts, it's not just one. All this may turn out to be is a matter of Kate getting her accounting in order. In a case as public and nasty as this, if I was Kate (or Jon) I'd be doing every thing the court said, making sure each i is dotted and t is crossed.

I'm sure Kate's attorney will have answers and counterclaims, as well.

So much for getting divorced in a county where the records are sealed ...

and $7500 each per month for the joint account? that's a LOT of living expenses. holy cow.

 

[madge]

Jon's court papers says Kate has a million she can get her hands on. Do you think that is the children's money? I assume when they talk about 14 accounts 8 would be the childrens trust....if that is how she set them up. The kids are walking away with $125,000 each if it is only a $1,000,000 that was put aside for them. I hope she sets it up so the money can not be touched.

someone pointed out a couple of pages ago that Jon said in an interview that he could get his hands on some money for living expenses, if necessary. I don't know if it's the children's money or not. I hope it isn't.

and Kate shouldn't be the only one setting up the children's money. at one point in time, I would have said that Jon and Kate should do that together. I don't think that should be the case anymore .. a neutral party should audit the accounts and set up the funds for the children and have a trustee not related to Jon & Kate handle everything involved with those funds.

 

[daughtersrus]

Actually, what they are probably referring to is the fact that since Jon has stopped Kate's show and subsequently her anticipated source of revenue that they think it is only right for him to share whatever revenues he has earned from this action. It seems only fair to me.

Is Kate sharing the money that she made from her TV appearances or from her book deals?

 

[daughtersrus]

I agree. Jon decided to pull the plug on their main source of income without any warning to Kate so it is fair that he pays temporary spousal support. Don't forget that if the shows ends, not only does the income end but all the expenses TLC paid for are Jon and Kate's responsibility now. That's a double whammy.

Why do you say without any warning? The end of last season during the interview they discussed how Jon didn't want to continue with the show.

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

someone pointed out a couple of pages ago that Jon said in an interview that he could get his hands on some money for living expenses, if necessary. I don't know if it's the children's money or not. I hope it isn't.

and Kate shouldn't be the only one setting up the children's money. at one point in time, I would have said that Jon and Kate should do that together. I don't think that should be the case anymore .. a neutral party should audit the accounts and set up the funds for the children and have a trustee not related to Jon & Kate handle everything involved with those funds.

I agree with you that both J&K should be aware of what's happening with the children's accounts. But if he's anything like my DH, he wants me to handle everything financial and just inform him after the fact. IF we got divorced he would be hard pressed to figure out where everything is (not that there's that much ). But I agree with you that at this point it needs to go to a neutral third party. I can definitely see the court ordering something like this.

 

[daughtersrus]

I didn't know about Gymboree and Gap. Jon said TLC paid for wardrobe so I thought it meant for the entire family. I don't know if its fair to compare the Duggars to the Gosselins because they're kids are different ages. Hand me downs can help cut the clothing expense.

.

They also have hand-me-downs from the twins that could be used for the little girls.

The Duggers also proudly shop at resale stores. Somehow I don't see Kate stepping into one anytime soon.

 

[madge]

The Duggers also proudly shop at resale stores. Somehow I don't see Kate stepping into one anytime soon.

that would be ironic, wouldn't it? Kate devoted so much energy to keeping the clothes stain-free so they could be sold at consignment stores ... and through a turn of events, she's shopping at those same stores?

 

[daughtersrus]

that would be ironic, wouldn't it? Kate devoted so much energy to keeping the clothes stain-free so they could be sold at consignment stores ... and through a turn of events, she's shopping at those same stores?

Now that would be a site! If TLC filmed that, their ratings would probably skyrocket for that episode.

 

[redrosesix]

Why do you say without any warning? The end of last season during the interview they discussed how Jon didn't want to continue with the show.

Exactly. And according to Jon, he had been in negotiations with TLC to get the filming stopped while they are going through the divorce throughout the summer, and this effort went into high gear when Heller took over as his lawyer ie. I think Heller was the one that found the loophole whereby Jon could stop filming at the house. Furthermore, they had warned TLC that they were going to be making this move and announcing this on LKL (but we don't know if the date for the interview had been set at that time) and TLC sent Jon a warning letter dated Sept. 25th that they would hold him in breach of contract if he did LKL to make this announcement.

A lot of things were going on behind the scenes this summer, most of it legal wrangling, and I for one am happy we didn't have to hear the play-by-play. Kate's new lawyer may feel that it is a brilliant move to announce each and every petition that he files against Jon, but IMO you can't give them much weight until they have successfully held up in court.

Soooo...what is the purpose of Momjian making all of these things public now? The only thing that I can come up with is if they make Kate look like a victim, barely able to pay her bills, and add in a dose of the kids being soooo upset about not doing the show, then the public will feel sorry enough for her and them to demand that the filming resume.

I think it was good that Jon made his response and counter-claim public because it reminds everybody that simply filing a petition does not mean that the respondent is guilty of any of its claims, and that it is up to the arbitrator and/or judge to decide whether those claims have any merit.

 

[redrosesix]

i thought it was interesting (and telling) that when larry king asked jon about income jon specifically asked 'just for the show?'. the dollar figure for the family income jon put out was just the fee (or salary or whatever you want to call it) that THE FAMILY received for the episodes, he did'nt say anything about any other sources of income they BOTH received or continue to (he's spoken of KATE'S income from books but seems to forget that he is listed as a co-author on at least one of those books, a book that i believe sold much better than the one kate was listed solely on).

the numbers that keep getting thrown out there as to the gosselin's income, as well as kate's assertions that jon's actions (stopping the show from filming) leaving her/kids in a precarious financial situation just does'nt work for me. i look to all the other sources of income they've had such as-speaking engagements (kate's got at least one this month in long beach i believe, and ones already schedualed into 2010) which reportedly earn them around $25,000 for the fee alone, there were the ones that were held at churches and other venues where 'love offerings' were solicited, the monies that were made at the speaking engagements and churches where photos of the family were sold, the 2 former incarnations of their personal websites (the one that was set up as gosselinsix, and the older version of their current gosselin 10 one) where they featured buisnesses (i would find it very difficult to believe there was'nt financial compensation in the form of direct income or tangible items exchanged for that)...all that adds up, and i would'nt be surprised if the reason the per-episode amount seems to many to be much less than what was previously thought is because jon and kate well knew how much they could reap from these other buisness pursuits and opted to go for a less lucrative contract with tlc that permitted them to continue with these (tlc can scream 'exclusivity' contract with jon all it wants-but what is it 'exclusive' to-"working" on a filmed production? participation in a reality show as jon gosselin?-depending on what was financialy advantagous to both tlc and the gosselins that 'exclusivity' could be very narrowly defined).


i look to kate having 1 appearance (that we know of) schedualed for this month so figure that's $25,000, then she's got 2 already schedualed for next spring so that's what? another $50,000. that's AT MINIMUM $75,000 in anticipated income (and no way if that's all she anticipates they will be anywhere near the 50% tax brack jon was whining about-with all those kids as write offs along with their mortgage interest and other standard deductions it would be almost entirely netted $$$) which equates to 10 months of kate's "share" of the household expenses. household expenses that as many on this thread have pointed out, could be drasticly reduced through lifestyle changes and just personal choice. so what if tlc is'nt paying for many of their expenses anymore-drycleaning? how much drycleaning does a "family" require-for the most part it would be for adult clothing that (i would hope) is'nt your regular wardrobe (non buisness/social), landscape maintainance? do it yourself or do without. nannies, transportation? if you're not off promoting the show or doing related buisness travel it's not necessitated. craft services (meals)-again, if you're not spending your time in production or promotion you're capable of shopping and preparing your own. so many of the expenses could be parred down but even if they could'nt and it remained such that one half of the cost was $7500 per month-she's good for 10 months coverage just based on 3 DAYS of work she's got lined up. i can't imagine that given the other bank accounts and assetts they've got, even if they did'nt receive one penny beyond-that they would be in any immediate financial peril.

ITA with all of this...especially about the drycleaning

The question I always have in the back of my mind is what would they have done if, god forbid, one of them or one of the children became ill or had an accident and they could no longer do the show? Or what if the ratings had simply fallen to the point where it was no longer profitable for TLC to do the show because it lost its sponsors -- I'm quite sure that no TV network would guarantee to air a specific number of shows. Just saying, there are many reasons the show might have stopped, and why would they not be prepared for that?

 

[madge]

I think it was good that Jon made his response and counter-claim public because it reminds everybody that simply filing a petition does not mean that the respondent is guilty of any of its claims, and that it is up to the arbitrator and/or judge to decide whether those claims have any merit.

I find it interesting that Jon/his lawyer made the paperwork public, without "leaking" it through a source to the tabloid media. I also think it's interesting that they filed the paperwork nearly 4 days ago, and we're just hearing about it because Jon's lawyer made it public.

I watched (against my better judgment ) Kate's interview on The Today Show. She claims to have records for all the monies. If so, why haven't they been filed with the arbitrator, and is that a big deal?

I swore I was done with this whole mess, too. Crap. I'm sucked right back in.