Kelly Clarkson attends the 2020 Hollywood Beauty Awards at the Taglyan Complex on February 06, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Tibrina Hobson / Getty Images)

• Recently, a Los Angeles County Court judge ordered singer Kelly Clarkson to pay R2.8 million each month to her ex-spouse, Brandon Blackstock. This comes after their split last year.
• Many women can relate to Kelly, especially as they begin to have higher incomes in their workplace and fear that they will be forced to support ex-husbands should they choose to leave their marriage.
• To understand the position under our local laws, HJW Attorneys’ attorneys shed light on the matter and explain that the court’s position on spousal and child support is different.

According to legal documents received by The Blast, Kelly’s monthly income was estimated at $ 583,617 (R23 million), which is the basis for the judge’s decision on payments to clur

As reported in US Weekly, it was also recently revealed that Brandon was an extremely jealous partner who apparently envied his wife’s success.

“The relationship was upside down for a long time,” a source told US Weekly. “She was the high earner on a hugely successful talk show and is the star of another hit show, The Voice. Brandon was extremely jealous of it and brought it to her attention.”

Even so, the host of the Kelly Clarkson Show has to pay Brandon $ 150,000 (R 2,189,000) a month in spousal support and an additional $ 45,601 (R 665,000) in child support, for a total of just over R2.8 million a month.

READ MORE | Kelly Clarkson pays her ex-husband R2.8 million a month for spouse and child support

Many women can empathize with Kelly’s situation, which is almost like being punished or deprived of guilt for her success in the midst of a divorce.

For this reason, W24 asked the lawyers at the boutique law firm HJW Attorneys for clarification. As the firm’s representative, Michael Clur shared the following information on how local laws work in such situations.

He declares that the question of spousal support is regulated in Divorce Act 70 of 1979.

“This law only applies to divorce and neither party is responsible for the spouse’s maintenance if there was no marriage,” says Michael.

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With regard to spousal maintenance, after a divorce neither party is automatically entitled to it. “The court has some discretion in this regard, and in practice spousal maintenance is not often ordered by the court unless there are special circumstances,” says Michael.

However, it is different when you have children.

“With regard to child support, the burden of paying the same amount of money is not incumbent on the father, but on both parents according to their respective financial situation,” says Michael.

“This means that a mother may have a maintenance obligation if she has more financial means than the father.”

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The court will make a maintenance decision at its own discretion and is entitled to consider a non-exhaustive list of factors.

“This includes the current financial / economic situation of the parties, the age, the duration of the marriage and their behavior, insofar as it may have contributed to the breakdown of the marriage. When it comes to supporting a child, the parent with whom the child lives is also an important factor, “explains Michael.

What do you think of how the law of SA works on this issue? Do you have a relationship story that you would like to share with us? Tell us here

Additional source: US Weekly

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