Mel
B and Stephen Belafonte have been criticized for “living beyond their
means” by a judge after giving his verdict on their spousal support
battle.
The Spice Girls star, full name Melanie Brown,
was ordered to pay $40,000 (R518 000) a month in emergency spousal
support to her estranged husband Stephen by a judge last Friday.
The order, which was filed at Los Angeles Superior Court, has now been obtained according to report obtained by Cap on the run and shows the judge criticizing the former couple for living a “high
upper class life” in the top one per cent even though their finances
didn’t allow for it, noting that the amount for which they have claimed
under monthly expenses exceeds their income.
“Given that the
parties have lived beyond their means, that the parties’ claimed
expenses are not entirely credible or reasonable, the amounts of income
and expenses are unclear on this record…” the judge wrote before
deciding to give Stephen $40,000.
“That should be enough to meet
his reasonable needs and not vary far from his premarital standard of
living, at least until the financial picture clarifies,” he concludes.
In the order, the judge also lists some of Mel’s expense claims and questions their legitimacy
“Brown’s
claims $200,000/month in ‘child care’ with no further explanation,” the
order continues.
“And likewise over $5,000/month (R65 000) in groceries
and household supplies for a family of four (excluding Belafonte) on
top of $4,493 (R58 000) a month for ‘eating out’ and $1,313/month (R17
000) for ‘movies, shows, theme parks, etc.’. The Court does not find
these expenses credible or reasonable, at least based on the evidence
now before the Court.”
The order lists Stephen’s expenses for
phone and email bills, groceries, household supplies, entertainment,
gifts, vacation in a similar way and comes to the same conclusion that
his expenses are not reasonable or credible.
After the news broke, Mel’s mum Andrea Brown tweeted that she was “disgusted” with the verdict.
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