Kate Gosselin has begun her legal attempt to reclaim the $230,000 she is accusing her estranged husband Jon of withdrawing from their joint bank account without her consent.
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"We went to court this morning to protect her rights," Kate's lawyer Mark Momjian told Radar Online.
"The judge hasn't ruled yet, but is expected to at anytime. We are seeking sanctions against Jon Gosselin and we want the money returned, now."
Kate confirmed weekend reports during a Monday appearance on NBC's Today that Jon had almost completely wiped out their joint bank account, leaving her unable to pay household bills.
"He took $230,000 of the $231,000 that we have liquid. I have a stack of bills in my purse I can't drop in the mail," Kate told Today anchor Meredith Viera during the interview.
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"I have to in order to keep my kids where they live and put food on their table," the Jon & Kate Plus 8 star responded as she held back tears.
"I need that money to provide for them. You have to understand my position here. We were in a position after our sextuplets were born that we could not pay our bills. We did the show to provide a better life for them. Never in my life did I think I would be back in the same position, worried about providing for them."
Momjian and Kate's lead attorney Marty Singer are also asking Jon be held on contempt charges for withdrawing the funds without consenting Kate first -- which he was legally required to do per an arbitrator's ruling when the couple filed for divorce in June.
In a letter to Jon's attorney Mark Jay Heller dated Friday, Singer also claims Heller "instructed" Jon to withdraw the funds "or at minimum, that you knew he was doing so but failed to caution him to cease and desist from such conduct, and to warn him that his impermissible withdrawal of the monies could expose him to substantial liabilities."
"We demand the immediate to the account of all the monies improperly withdrawn by your client," reads the letter from Singer to Heller, a copy of which was obtained by Radar Online. "If you and your client fail to comply with this demand, you do so at your own peril."
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Heller contends that -- according to Jon's recollection -- "he has not withdrawn any money for his own re-numeration with exception of the past several months wherein he believes he only withdrew approximately $175,000 which is less than 10 percent of the gross revenues paid the Gosselins [for Jon & Kate Plus 8] and certainly no one would deem it unreasonable that Jon waited a little over four years to take any 'paycheck' for his 4 1/2 years of services."
In addition, Heller -- who also accused Kate of failing to honor an arbitrator's order that she provide an explanation of several early 2008 withdrawals -- also claims that while the agreement decreed that neither party would withdraw funds without the prior consent of the other party it also stated that "consent shall not unreasonably be withheld by either party" and that the fact that Jon's withdrawals were reflected in bank statements subsequently sent to Kate means that he did not "[withdraw] the money in secret."
About The Author: Christopher Rocchio
