The Bachelorette alum Bryan Abasolo has scored a big win in his ongoing divorce proceedings with estranged wife Rachel Lindsay.
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Rachel has also been ordered to pay an additional $20,000 -- including $15,000 for his legal fees and $5,000 for other expenses -- by September 3, 2024.
Bryan previously asked the court for $16,275 a month in spousal support to maintain the pair's "marital standard of living." Rachel, in turn, had offered the chiropractor, who claims to have been struggling financially, $9,000 a month.
Rachel had argued in response to Bryan's request for $16k in spousal support that there was not "competent evidence" to support Bryan's ask, which she thought far exceeded his need.
Rachel had written in court documents obtained by Page Six, "I am not flush with cash, as he believes me to be."
After the former couple made virtual appearances in court amid their divorce, a judge clearly landed on a number between Bryan's ask and Rachel's offer. Bryan, however, will receive more than 80% of the money he had requested.
After more than four years of marriage, Bryan filed for divorce from Rachel in January and listed their date of separation as December 31, 2023. He had initially asked for emergency spousal support and $75,000 to cover his legal fees in a May 1 filing.
At the time, Bryan had claimed he was only bringing in $16,000 of income per year.
Rachel had responded in court by saying she wouldn't be able to afford to "pay my own counsel" if she owed Bryan $75,000 in attorney fees. She also alleged Bryan was misrepresenting his income and was capable of generating income on his own and supporting himself going forward.
Rachel had also reportedly declared that Bryan's supposed annual income was "less than he would [earn] if he worked at McDonalds," based on the minimum wage in Los Angeles, CA.
Rachel had also claimed that she was already paying for "90 percent" of Bryan's expenses as well as the costs of owning their North Hollywood house, which he refused to vacate post-divorce filing.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOWRachel and Bryan will have their next scheduled court proceeding on September 23 in Los Angeles, according to Entertainment Tonight.
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During a June appearance on the "Hidden Gems with Natasha Parker" podcast, Rachel revealed that she had "wanted" a prenuptial agreement before marrying Bryan, but the pair couldn't come to an agreement.
"The reason I didn't [get one] is because the place I'm in now, you know, financially or however you want to define it, is totally different than when I got married," Rachel explained at the time.
"We were more level and I wasn't living in California."
Rachel and Bryan had gotten engaged on The Bachelorette's thirteenth season, which aired 2017, and then they got married in August 2019. At that time, Rachel was an attorney from Texas and Bryan was working as a chiropractor in Miami, FL.
Rachel explained that when she and Bryan tied the knot, it was simply "a different time" in her life.
"We weren't on the same page with prenups. I didn't want it to be a bigger issue, so we didn't have one," Rachel admitted.
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After Bryan and Rachel's August 2019 wedding, Rachel briefly moved to Miami to be with Bryan. Rachel then relocated to California for a job at Extra, resulting in the pair trying to make a long-distance marriage work.
Bryan, apparently believing he and Rachel were a team, subsequently moved from Florida to Los Angeles, CA, for the sake of Rachel's entertainment career, which now includes multiple podcasts and two books. (Rachel no longer works for Extra).
"I placed my career as a chiropractor on hold to move twice for Rachel's career. These moves were detrimental to my chiropractic business, while Rachel's income and success as a media personality skyrocketed," Bryan wrote in his early May court filing, according to Us Weekly.
Bryan also wrote, "I want to move out of our Family Residence as soon as possible, but maintaining our standard of living is not financially feasible at this time... [And she is] refusing to give me access to any of our community property funds to pay my divorce lawyer, my forensic accountant, or any of my personal expenses."
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Rachel subsequently asked the court to seal her financial details from the public eye, claiming that filing them could "potentially cause irreparable harm," as well as seal redacted portions of Bryan's request for spousal support and attorney's fees filed on May 1.
Although Rachel and Bryan are parting ways, Rachel said she still considers her time on The Bachelorette to be a success.
"It is a happy ending in the sense that I'm doing what's best for me, and with divorce -- even if it's mutual -- there's a bit of a selfish decision in it, but I'm doing what's best for me and that's a happy ending," Rachel noted on Natasha's podcast.
"Right now as I'm going through it. No, it's not happy, it's messy -- unnecessarily messy -- but when I get through it I'm going to have to rebuild and I'm going to have to restructure, but it's a happy ending because it's what I want."
Rachel dropped her surname in her Instagram bio and publicly broke her silence on her divorce from Bryan for the first time during the January 5 episode of the "Higher Learning with Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay" podcast.
"I didn't think I was going to get emotional," Rachel said through tears.
After thanking family and friends for their support, she said she was "obviously" going through "a difficult time."
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The former attorney, however, told her listeners of her divorce, "But I'm not going to talk about it."
"I will eventually," Rachel clarified, "but now is not the time. I'm just trying to take it day by day."
When Bryan announced his divorce filing in January, he wrote on Instagram, "If you've been following me for a while, you know I don't like to put my personal affairs on social media and like to keep a safe space for our family."
"Many of you know me as a chiropractor," he elaborated, "and also as a husband, my proudest role so far. After more than 4 years of marriage, Rachel and I have made the difficult decision to part ways and start anew."
The chiropractor continued, "My parents have been married forever and I'm a family man, but sometimes loving yourself and your partner means you must let go."
Bryan wrote how he wanted fans to "hear it from the source" before reading about his breakup with Rachel in "the blogs," allowing people to make up "their own reality."
Bryan concluded of his estranged wife, "Please respect the spaces of our family and friends as we figure out our next steps. Respectfully, Bryan."
The divorce didn't come as a huge shock to fans because Rachel had told Nick Viall on the December 21 episode of "The Viall Files" podcast that she and Bryan were living "totally different lives" and didn't "work well together."
But Rachel shared in May 2022 that she and the former "Talking It Out with Bachelor Nation" podcast host had been "already taking steps" to have their first child together.
Bryan added at the time, "I'll be ready when it happens. That's the attitude you've got to have. I don't think anyone is ever ready for it; they just do it. And baby after baby, maybe it gets easier."
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
