The bitter divorce case of actor Anne Heche has been going on for nearly a year now. After her estranged husband, Coleman Laffoon, filed for divorce on February 2 last year, the couple began tossing accusations and personal attacks at each other in court, often about each other’s parenting abilities.
This week, there was a small but significant development. A judge has awarded each spouse $240,000 from the sale of the couple’s home in the Los Angeles area, according to Yahoo!Xtra News.
Both Heche, 38, and Laffoon, 32, reportedly appeared in Los Angeles Superior Court but would not look at or speak to each other.
Gail Ruderman Feuer, the judge presiding over the case, explained that she was distributing the funds in order to allow both parties to pay their divorce attorneys’ fees and Laffoon to pay his rent. She has ordered Heche to pay Laffoon’s legal fees, which now add up to $41,000. Laffoon, a freelance cameraman and editor, is now reportedly seeking $14,800 in monthly spousal and child support.
The $480,000 does not represent the total proceeds from the sale of the Hancock Park home, according to reports.
“This is what we’ve been arguing for all along,” Yahoo!Xtra quoted one of Heche’s divorce lawyers, Daniel J. Jaffe, as saying in reference to the house money. He added that the current Hollywood writers’ strike has affected his client’s financial situation. “We don’t know if the show is going to be picked up for a third season,” Jaffe said, referring to Heche’s current TV series, Men in Trees.
But Melvin S. Goldman, the lawyer representing Laffoon, reportedly told Judge Feuer that Heche has been earning $62,000 a month and recently bought a house in British Columbia, Canada.
Heche, a former lesbian, is probably best known for her high-profile relationship with comedian Ellen DeGeneres during the 1990s. She married Laffoon in the fall of 2001; they have a five-year-old son.
Divorce can be a costly event, no matter what your income. For a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst’s advice on how to deal with the financial realities of divorce, click here.
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