Woman seeks child support from Harlem Globetrotter legend
When a couple divorces, a child support order is typically handed down, and the paying parent is under legal obligation to pay a certain amount each month. If that parent does not pay the ordered child support, legal consequences can result. However, child support claims and lawsuits pursued decades after the split and after the child is grown are highly unusual, and yet those cases can severely impact a parent’s financial situation. Any Virginia parent who is owed support from years ago or who hasn’t paid child support might want to learn from the case of famed Harlem Globetrotter Meadowlark Lemon.
Lemon and his wife divorced back in 1977. They were married for 22 years. The Harlem Globetrotter was allegedly ordered to pay $2,500 a month in child support. According to his ex-wife, he only paid for about a year then quit, causing deep financial woes for the ex and her children.
The ex-wife and a 48-year-old son of the basketball player are suing for the amount they contend they were owed. They are suing for $250,000. The son has said lack of child support is partly to blame for his troubles with school and the law. Lemon says he does not know why they are pursuing the back support now and says his 48-year-old son should get a job if he is running out of money.
When back due child support compounds, it may be difficult for a struggling parent to keep up with payments and the receiving parent may struggle to provide for the child. Parents in Virginia who have a reason for missed or late payments may benefit from pursuing a modification to child support in order to avoid any negative consequences of missed payments. A modification can be pursued if a parent is dealing with a significant change in economic security, a change in the needs of the child or other circumstances that warrant a new look at the payment amount.
Source: New York Daily News, “Harlem Globetrotters’ star Meadowlark Lemon sued for $250,000 in child support“, Doyle Murphy, May 17, 2015