Ex-‘RHOC’ Star Noella Bergener Awarded $25k Per Month in Child Support After Revealing She Has Zero Income Since Leaving Reality Show
July 31 2023, Published 7:00 p.m. ET
Ex-Real Housewives of Orange County star Noella Bergener scored a huge victory in her court battle with her ex-husband James — with a judge awarding her a massive 5-figure sum per month in support, RadarOnline.com has learned.
According to court documents obtained by RadarOnline.com, an Orange County Superior Court judge determined Noella’a lawyer ex will pay $25k per month for their son James Jr., born in 2019.
The case was brought by the County of Orange on behalf of Noella. The initial petition listed James’ monthly income as $900k per month.
The petition asked the court to order James to pay $52,907 per month in child support. Further, the government wanted James to maintain health insurance coverage for his son.
James objected to the request for $52k per month. He claimed the financial information that Noella provided to the government was inaccurate.
“I do not agree with the proposed guideline child support amount because the guideline calculation is based on inaccurate income information. The figure used for my income is based only on oral statements from Other Parent. Other Parent's statements are not accurate, and she knows they are not accurate,” he said.
Months later, Noella filed an income and expense declaration detailing her finances. She revealed she was unemployed but was pulling in $46k per year while employed by Bravo.
The 39-year-old said she had zero income and assets. She said her monthly expenses totaled $4,070.
“James goes months without seeing our son. He’s had 9 visits in the last 21 months. He has been in California often for cosmetic procedures, work, and commercial shoots without visiting our son,” Noella wrote. She added that their son is autistic and “requires occupational and speech therapy.”
In a declaration, Noella claimed “going on 11 months with zero support I have maxed out the loan from my 70-year-old mother. I can’t afford rent and we had to move in with my boyfriend. I haven’t been able to provide anything close to the childhood our son had before his father left. All while having to watch James’ commercials claiming record rewards, and seeing thousand dollar meals charged to our country club membership in Puerto Rico. It’s embarrassing that this is what I am at.”
She added, “I never imagined that he would neglect to take care of his own child. I would not be here if he didn’t stop paying the $15k support which is more than half of what we agreed to in mediation. I have not been aggressive in this divorce in hopes of keeping things peaceful for our son's sake.”
At the recent hearing, the judge ruled James will pay $25k per month. In addition, he was ordered to pay $5k per month to cover an undetermined amount of support arrears. Noella agreed to use a portion of the child support to obtain medical insurance for her son since James “resides out of the state.”
The case has since been closed.
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As RadarOnline.com first reported, in August 2021, Noella filed for legal separation from James.
The decision came days after RadarOnline.com broke the story that the IRS had hit James with a massive tax lien.
Uncle Sam accused the successful personal injury lawyer of owing $1,878,438 for 2018 and $2,166,680 for 2019. The State of California said it was owed $1,851,225.04 owed for 2018 and 2019.
Months later, Noella amended her petition to seek a full divorce. She demanded primary custody of her son.
James filed his own divorce petition in Puerto Rico. He denied claims he failed to provide for his son.
