In what has to be his most immature, petty and vindictive move in a pre-divorce period in which he’s behaved like a junior high student who hasn’t caught up with the rest of his classmates, Jon Gosselin has emptied his joint bank account with his estranged wife Kate. Jon is said to have absconded with at least $200,000, but he did leave Kate a paltry $1,000 for some expenses. That’s supposed to pay for things for the kids, right?

This probably wasn’t Gosselin’s idea, though. A letter sent from Kate Gosselin’s new lawyer to Jon’s new lawyer, Mark J. Heller, shows that Heller has an MO of urging his divorcing clients to take all the money out of their bank accounts and give it to him as a retainer. Heller admitted to professional misconduct in a 1993 NY Supreme Court case involving “thirty eight counts alleging multiple violations of the disciplinary rules.” He was suspended from practicing law for five years, from 1994 to 1999.

Jon’s behavior is in direct violation of an “Arbitration Award” in their divorce, which maintains that each party must obtain permission before taking money out of the account. Jon could easily be found in contempt of court for taking most of the money out without a word to Kate.

In an appearance on Larry King with his lawyer last Thursday, Jon pledged that he’d like to forge a better relationship with Kate. “We’re not going to be husband and wife anymore. But we’re always going to be mom and dad. We have to work together against this. We have to pull our kids off of television and work this out as a family.” How does he think that taking all the money out of their account jibes in any way with trying to work with Kate, or was that all just bullsh*t?

I think that Jon is incapable of making decisions or running his life without someone telling him what to do, and that he lacks the basic reasoning skills to avoid being conned. He told Larry King twice that he felt empowered now that he has a new lawyer. “[N]ow I have a sense of empowerment. Before, I didn’t have any representation.”

The father of eight also revealed on Larry King that that he made a joint one million last year with Kate from their reality show, and that it amounted to $500,000 divided by 10 (for each of their kids, as if they’re saving it for them) after taxes. I guess Jon’s sense of empowerment comes from taking most of the money out at his lawyer’s insistence without informing Kate.

The good thing is that Jon will likely face stiff penalties for this very stupid move, and that he’s likely to get creamed even worse in the divorce. Welcome to the real world Jon, was the brief taste of freedom worth it? We also heard this weekend that Jon is moving forward with plans for a reality show to co-star his girlfriend, Hailey Glassman. Maybe that will get scrapped now that he’s emptied the family coffers.

Jon Gosselin is shown outside The Ivy with his lawyer on 10/3/09. Credit: WENN.com. He’s also shown at Dodger stadium on 10/2/09. Credit: Amber Matsumoto/LA Dodgers