There's been much recent speculation about Mel Gibson not paying child support to Oksana Grigorieva for their eight month old daughter Lucia. As usual there are two sides to every story. Grigorieva who is a Russian musician is alleging that the multi-millionaire actor is not paying child support and that she is being forced to live off credit cards and cash from friends because Gibson hasn't paid her a penny in child support.
Meanwhile, Mel Gibson's lawyer Stephen Kolodney has stated that Mel has opened up his wallet for Oksana, putting her up in a multi-million dollar house, buying her a car, providing health insurance and giving her "tens of thousands of dollars to support her and Lucia over the past months."
Oksana's lawyer , Marci Levine has countered that "The statement released on behalf of Mel Gibson is based upon complete distortions of the truth regarding Mr. Gibson's financial contributions toward the parties' child and conveniently ignores his obligations to the parties' child under California law."
Levine hasn't specifically said how Mel has fallen short, but those connected with Oksana claim the actor has not paid child support since the couple split.
Kolodny says Mel has gone far above and beyond what's required of him under a support and custody agreement the former couple reached in mediation.
But now, Kolodny claims Oksana has violated the agreement by refusing to let Mel see their daughter on Father's Day, Mel is only going to pay Oksana what they agreed to in mediation and not a penny more.
Kolodny wouldn't say how much Oksana is legally entitled to under mediation, but there is speculation that it's well over $10,000 a month.
The latest in this continuing drama is claims and counter-claims regarding restraining orders. According to some reports Gibson filed a restraining order against Grigorieva but perhaps this was a mix-up as it appears that Grigorieva has filed a restraining order against Gibson which has been filed in Los Angeles Superior Court and will be heard by a judge sitting in-camera within the next week.
While all this public bickering is good for the tabloids, unfortunately this is an all to common scenario that I deal with as a family law attorney every day. I like to focus on getting agreements in place rapidly to prevent long and drawn out battles. If you have a family issue that you need some help with, please don't hesitate to contact me for a free initial consultation where you can get all your questions answered. As for Mel and Oksana hopefully their attorneys will guide them to an equitable resolution as soon as possible.