Court orders Halle Berry to pay hefty child support payments

When it comes to child support obligations, whether you care for them or not really does all depend on whether you are on the giving or receiving end of a court order. If you are on the receiving end of these payments you may support a court’s decision to increase payment amounts but frown when the payments are lowered. The reverse is true if you are the one making payments; you might encounter frustration if a support modification forces you to pay more than what was previously established.

Such may be the case for actress Halle Berry who was recently ordered by a judge to pay $16,000 a month in child support as well as $115,000 in retroactive support to her ex Gabriel Aubry. Though this may seem like a small sum for a successful actress such as Berry — it certainly would be considered as such by many of our Washington readers’ standards — it’s possible that she too may feel frustrated by the court order that forces her to remain in the life of her ex-boyfriend.

According to court documents, the former couple shares equal custody of their 6-year-old daughter. This initial custody agreement was reached in 2012 after a particularly contentious custody battle. It’s unclear from reports though if this most recent child support order was agreed upon in the initial agreement or if the amounts were part of a request for modification.

Because this particular child support case is happening in another state, some of our Spokane readers may be wondering why we are bringing it up in this week’s blog post. The reason is because this case shows that even in cases of shared custody one parent may be required to pay child support to the other parent. While many divorcing parents already know this, some may be blindsided by this fact and could be unprepared to make payments if they are required to.

It’s in situations such as this — as well as others — that a person may need to get legal advice from a skilled attorney who can help them through the process. A lawyer may also be able to provide answers to any questions a person may have about their support obligations too.

Source: People Magazine, “Halle Berry Ordered to Pay $16,000 a Month in Child Support,” Sheila Cosgrove Baylis, June 9, 2014