Denise Richards is not having a fun fall. Last month, her oldest daughter, Sami, blamed her mother for a restrictive household and went to live with her father, Charlie Sheen. Last Monday, a judge said Charlie no longer had to pay Denise any child support. The problem is, their other daughter, Lola, 16, still lives with Denise. According to Denise’s side, Charlie has been moving this court date around for two years and sprung this latest one on Denise while she was out of town filming. Charlie’s side said Denise has been aware of it for six months.
Charlie Sheen no longer has to pay ex-wife Denise Richards child support, a court ruling that caught the actress off guard, a source says.
A judge made the decision in Los Angeles County court Monday, adjusting the child support payment to “zero dollars per month” commencing from August 1, 2018, according to documents obtained by PEOPLE.
Sheen, 56, shares daughters Sami, 17, and Lola, 16, with Richards, 50.
Richards was not in attendance during the court proceedings. (On Instagram Friday, she wrote that she was traveling for work, explaining that “it’s hard being away from home and my family.”)
A source close to Richards told PEOPLE she was “blindsided” by the court date and ruling.
“Charlie filed two years ago and kept pushing the court date, so Denise was very surprised that it happened yesterday while she is out of town filming. She was blindsided,” the source said, further alleging, “Now he’s manipulating the situation.”
“Lola does not live with Charlie. She lives with both of her parents and stays with Charlie when Denise is out of town. When Denise is back, Lola will be with her,” the source clarified. “This is very disappointing for Denise, but also not surprising. Charlie is pitting the girls against their mother, which is horrible.”
An insider close to the situation, however, tells PEOPLE that Richards “has known about the court date for six months.”
The People article rehashes the fallout with Sami quite a bit. They included a new detail about Denise installing cameras to monitor Sami sneaking out at night. However, I don’t think those issues factor into a child support decision. Living arrangements would, though, and salaries. My assumption is that Denise is making more money than Charlie now. If Sami is living with her dad full time and Denise is earning equal or more than Charlie, then I can see why the child support was changed. I’m shocked it got adjusted to zero, though. Even if Denise wasn’t there in person, her lawyer should have been. Once again, there’s a lot of information missing from the story.
Legally, there are reasons this could have happened. However, this is Charlie Sheen we’re talking about and Denise is not as squeaky clean as we thought either. Her new husband certainly isn’t. A few things concern me. First, even though salary and Sami’s move would factor into the decision, Charlie filed this two years ago. Neither of those things were applicable back then. Second, why are Lola’s living arrangements being discounted? The friend said Charlie was “pitting the girls against their mother.” Is he taking Lola away too? I know Charlie has done a lot of work on himself, but he has lashed out at Denise and the kids in the past. Did Denise know about the court date? If he sprung this on her while she was out of town and both girls where physically under his roof, that sounds nefarious. But pop-up court dates are hard to come by in Covid times. Who knows.
Photo credit: Instagram
I am not a domestic attorney in California but often when a motion is filed, two years ago, the other party can file an opposition- anytime – regardless of when the hearing is/is moved to, and I read that her attorney did not file anything.
Feels like we are missing big pieces of this story.
It’s messy. As are all things involving family court abd also Charlie sheen.
@Charlie Sheen is an utter failure as a human being. Venal, spiteful, dishonest and self-indulgent – he disgusts me.
My daughter is going through a divorce right now. Her soon to be ex has claimed not to know when court dates are either. He was either lying or his attorney dropped the ball on it (unlikely). So I’m a bit suspicious of Denise not knowing. Also, in this day of Covid, at least where I live, getting court dates quickly are tough and many of them are virtual. Something is not right on both sides. Will what to see what drama unfolds.
I feel like she knew what the date was, but because Charlie has switched it around in the past, she assumed it would be changed and went to work anyway? But even then her lawyer should have been there so what do I know?
So far my daughter’s dates only the lawyers were involved. So, yeah, the lawyers should have been there.
Can child support suddenly change because one parent is now making less or not working regardless of their worth. Charlie made tons on Two and a Half mMen even though he has no new gigs he is still rich correct ? Lets say if Musk decides to retire and is not ‘earning’ his child support changes ?
I don’t know what the California laws are, but I have a friend who was recently divorced in NC, and any source of income or existing wealth was discoverable and could be factored into the judge’s decision. My friend makes a lot more than his ex, BUT she was capable of earning more than him because she is a CPA (and chose to only work very part-time); and she was receiving a million+ dollar inheritance from her parents’ estate within the next few months.
Caveat: this was regarding splitting assets and whether or not the ex qualified for alimony payments; the kids are adults and there was no child support involved.
Denise messed everything up when she married that creepy guy. I bet her kids had real issues with suddenly having a “bonus dad” when they had mom to themselves for so many years.
It does seem notable that her daughters both now stay with Charlie when she is out of town, and not at her/their house with their stepdad.
But Charlie as the authority figure over a rebellious 17 year old who has dropped out of high school- seems, well, bad.
Apple….Tree
That poor snake being drapped on that reptile.
Ha, ha! Best comment of the week!
This constant brangling about child support from the Sheen side smells like legal abuse. Also, I suspect that between drugs and porn stars and health issues, Charlie Sheen doesn’t have that much money left. Teens are very vulnerable; parents taking advantage of that fact are just the worst.
Denise isn’t squeaky clean, but who among us is? She’s stepped up a lot for her family, including taking in the next wife’s twins when their parents’ drug habits were completely out of control—I don’t think many people could do that even for a minute.
Thank you! Nobody is squeaky clean and I hate the idea that Denise Richards, or anyone, has to be a saint in order to have the support of others. We’re all flawed.
Doing this to Denise after she went above and beyond to take care of his other kids when he and their mother were most vulnerable is absolutely despicable.
@MissMarirose – I agree!! Those boys would have ended up in Foster care, if Denise didn’t step in to help!! Charlie and his ex were so far gone with drugs then, there was no way they could care for those young boys. How he cannot have an ounce of gratitude about that, is f**king vile.
I completely agree!
Charlie has grounds for this because technically they are 50/50 split parents with each having one kid now. it doesn’t make sense for charlie to be paying child support for Lola if he has one and she has one. Child support doesn’t usually apply when there’s a 50/50 custody arrangement.
And it sounds like Lola splits her time with both parents. So if Charlie has Sam 100% of the time and Lola 50% of the time that adds up to 75%. Of course child support got adjusted.
False. I’m not a millionaire. I live in CA AND I paid my ex child support with 51/49 me as the primary.
Denise is currently filming a family movie in Northern Ontario, and with the difficulties crossing the Canadian border right now it would be tricky to make it there and back fast for an appointment. If she’s losing a stream of financial support she may feel like she can’t miss work. My brother is also working on this film.
She’s done filming. A family friend is also in the movie, and he stayed to keep shooting after they wrapped her scenes.
Charlie supports his twins and paid support for his oldest daughter. He isn’t a deadbeat. She would need to start paying Charlie child support for Sammy since she lives with him. It’s easier to say no one pays anyone.
It’s possible that the change in circumstances warrants an adjustment, or even a termination, of child support. I assume there’s a formula the court uses to figure it out. But:
1. It doesn’t sit right with me that Charlie very likely got Sami to choose to live with him by letting her live rule-free in his house.
2. I can’t believe Charlie doesn’t feel any residual goodwill toward Denise. She parented his kids- even those he had with the other wife- when he was at his lowest. He owes her, but he’s apparently not willing to admit that.
Misogynistic abusers aren’t strong on the goodwill.
If income and custody time have equalled out, zero child support in either direction seems…fair? Who knows.
I wonder how much Denise’s new husband has to do with the issues with her daughters. I worry for those girls, and Charlie’s other kids. They had way too much to deal with from day 1.
@ lucy2, yes, all of his spawn are on the edge of reality. He is no saint and is an awful human being, and that is a stretch calling him human. He was and will always be a POS, no matter where he is in life.
I have to say, if my underage kid was sneaking out at night I’d sure as hell want to know it and I’d have cameras too. For God’s sake, what if she went missing? What if she overdosed? Hell, I’d want a minder or a private detective, too. Yes, it’s hard to negotiate the rebellious years, but Sami Sheen, just being the daughter of Charlie, could be around very bad people, even kidnapped. I’d honestly be freaking out and be getting advice/assistance.
Same. I still have the video monitor from when my son was a baby, and I am planning to aim it at the front door, hidden from view, when he is going through all the teenage nonsense.
Texas family law attorney here. If she were in Texas, and assuming daughter is now living with Dad full-time, Denise would be very lucky if SHE didn’t end up paying c/s to Charlie.
I read an article speculating that Denise may be making a return to Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. I bet she’s definitely going to do that now that she’s getting hit with all these unexpected financial changes.
Thank you for that input, I suspected as much. Which, may be why Charlie was so willing to let his daughter come live with him. I, like others, am pretty dismayed how ungrateful he seems that Denise essentially raised their girls – AND even took in his twin boys from his other ex wife, when both of them were too strung out to care for those boys! No one is perfect, and Denise isn’t either, but Charlie having his oldest daughter now, with essentially no rules (as they both have admitted) is a recipe for disaster. I feel very badly for those girls. I think Denise tried to give them a lot of structure, and perhaps with the addition of her new husband, that threw the dynamic way off? Who knows?
If I were a teenager I’d love living with hot mess dad too. No/super relaxed rules? Yes please.
@Colleen, I am living that nightmare right now. One of my children is a high risk youth who has chosen to live with her dad bc there are literally no rules for her to follow. She spends very little time at school and all her free time downtown. She has worked hard getting clean and I fear she is being thrown to the wolves again.
When you are a youth not wanting structure, a hot mess of a dad is the best?!
Exactly. Charlie Sheen is my nightmare for a co-parent, and I am a completely single parent. No dad is a lot better than Charlie Sheen.
Don’t forget that she also took on a little girl (speculation that she was fathered by Sheen) who has special needs. I don’t know what happened with that, but she did that too for him. He is scum.
Charlie Sheen is the human equivalent to bubbling raw sewage.