In a bitter divorce that has lasted nearly half a decade, one of the stars of “Dukes of Hazzard” got dealt a heavy blow by the judge overseeing his divorce from Elvira Schneider.
The 59-year-old television star, country music singer, and director/producer has had a bit of a rough go during the time since he and Elvira first filed for divorce in 2014.
Last year, John Schneider was sentenced to spend three days in county jail after refusing to pay temporary spousal support to Elvira – something he said he could not afford.
“It’s common sense versus entitlement. I’ve worked seven days a week, 80 hours a week, at least since 1978,” he said at the time. “I have, as every working person has, a mountain of debt that was attached to my dream. And there’s a group now that somehow feels they’re entitled to life or even luxury without work and the judicial system apparently agrees with that.”
His divorce trial took place on Tuesday, August 20th, 2019, but he was nowhere to be seen. As the court proceedings concluded, he was hit really hard financially with an order that seems to exceed his entire net worth.
According to The Blast via Yahoo! Entertainment, the court ruled that Elvira was entitled to their California property (valued around $600K) while John was allowed to keep the Louisiana property – which also houses his production studio. The Louisiana property is valued similarly to the California property.
Beyond just this, the court said in their finding that John had drained one of the couple’s IRA accounts that was worth $40K at the time it was emptied. Because of this, the judge awarded the remaining IRA account worth $60K – with the extra money “considered as sanctions.”
Beyond this, John was ordered to pay two years of back-owed spousal support at a rate of $25K per month. He then will be required to pay her $20K/month in spousal support moving forward.
It doesn’t stop there, though…
John has a balance due of attorney’s fees for Elvira’s legal team that is standing at $116K and the judge tacked on another $279K that will be due in $5,000 monthly payments. If John is five days late at any time, the entire balance will become due immediately.
What’s the total of all this to John? Well, it adds up to be just over $1 million in losses / penalties / back-owed spousal support. With an additional $240,000 per year going forward.
According to CelebrityNetWorth.com, John Schneider has a net worth of just about $200,000, so perhaps this story isn’t quite over yet.
Both parties must sign the judgment in order to have the marriage dissolved. But John might have another legal move under his sleeve – but he hasn’t spoken publicly yet.
Whenever he finalizes this, he can finally (legally) tie the knot with his girlfriend Alicia Allain.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BzodbOMhpdH/?utm_source=ig_embed
The two had a wedding ceremony and celebration with friends last month, but because his divorce wasn’t finalized they couldn’t legally do it.