Cabrera ex-mistress gets $12K/month in child support. She wants $100K
Tresa Baldas, Detroit Free Press Published 12:13 p.m. ET April 4, 2018 | Updated 9:49 p.m. ET April 4, 2018
After months of claiming the Detroit Tigers superstar did her wrong, Miguel Cabrera's ex-mistress has been awarded just more than $12,000 a month in child support — a sliver of the $100,000 a month she wants.
It's also exactly what the millionaire baseball player was already paying Belkis Rodriguez before she sued him for more money in an explosive paternity suit that revealed the affair and the two children he fathered with her. The boy is now 5; the girl 2½ — both of whom will get annual passes to Walt Disney World, Universal Studios and Sea World as part of a court order.
A Florida judge has ruled that for now, Cabrera must pay Rodriguez $12,247 a month in child support, in addition to financing the children's private schooling, day care, health insurance and extracurricular activities.
Rodriguez, meanwhile, can still fight for more of Cabrera's money for her children as the award is temporary. And if the latest court filings are any indication, she's on a mission to get more as she is still pushing to find out how much he spends on the three children he has with his wife.
Cabrera has arguedthat his personal finances are none of Rodriguez's business, but a judge in Florida says he has to provide some of that information to her, including how much he spends on his three kids' private school tuition, tutors, after-school activities and trips he has taken with his children outside the baseball season. He also has to disclose a list of any boats or airplanes he may own, and any contracts involving endorsements or sponsorships.
These details were disclosed in a court filing Wednesday in Orange County Circuit Court in Orlando, where Rodriguez sued Cabrera last August, claiming he left her and their two kids high and dry last year after his wife discovered the affair. She argued that given his $30-million annual salary, which equals $2.5 million a month, she was entitled to $100,000 a month under Florida's child support guidelines.
But what Rodriguez was really upset about was that Cabrera wouldn't leave his wife, according to court documents obtained by the Free Press.
"Following the birth of the second child, the mother became increasingly incensed by the father's refusal to leave his wife for her," Cabrera's lawyer, Benjamin Hodas, wrote in a court filing. "The mother would regularly threaten the father to expose their relationship, and children, to his wife and the media, and to file a paternity suit wherein she would seek 'millions of dollars' from him.
Out of fear, Hodas wrote, Cabrera caved to her demands. But the more he gave, "the greater the mother's financial demands increased," he wrote.
According to court documents, Cabrera had been paying Rodriguez $20,000 a month in child support without any court order, but cut the amount by $5,000 last summer. Rodriguez argued this was only done by Cabrera to appease his wife who discovered the affair and filed for divorce. Cabrera cut his payments, the woman's lawyer argued, because he wanted to stop the divorce proceedings, which ultimately did happen as his wife changed her mind.
Cabrera's wife, Rosangel, filed for divorce in April 2017. At about the same time, his then-mistress closed on a $1-million house that Cabrera helped her buy. Later that summer, Cabrera stopped paying Rodriguez the additional $5,000 a month in child support that he had agreed to pay when she bought the house, records show.
In August, Rodriguez hit Cabrera with a paternity suit, claiming she had no other choice but to sue Cabrera for leaving her with a lifestyle she couldn't afford. In addition to helping her buy the five-bedroom Spanish-style mansion, records show, Cabrera also showered Rodriguez with perks, including a trip to Europe, a Disney Cruise, $5,000 children's birthday parties and money for a Range Rover. He also spent $3,000 a month on travel for the two children to see him.
According to court records, Rodriguez's monthly expenses are nearly $9,500 a month. This includes: a $6,766 monthly mortgage payment, which includes insurance and property taxes; $150 lawn care; $65 for pest control; $150 for pool care; $261 for telephones and iPads for the two children; $1,300 for food, home supplies and restaurant meals.
Rodriguez, who drives a Range Rover, also spends $1,380 a month for her car payment, $300 for gas and $170 for car insurance.
Miguel Cabrera's mistress gets mansion and $12K a month in child support — and wants more
Miguel Cabrera makes $30M a year, shorts kids on child support | Kaffer
The lawsuit was filed during the end of Cabrera's worst season, when he batted .249 with 16 home runs and 60 RBIs while battling a back injury.
In court filings, Cabrera's lawyer has portrayed Rodriguez as a shakedown artist who is is trying to extort alimony from him, even though they were never married.
Rodriguez's lawyer has argued that Cabrera is a wealthy man who is shortchanging his client, when he should be paying her more given his wealth.
The two sides tried to settle the case for months, but the talks went nowhere. Cabrera's wife even attended two full-day mediations — an arrangement that Rodriguez agreed to "out of her desire to attempt to amicably settle this matter," her lawyer wrote in court documents.
In court documents, Rodriguez has argued that her children are entitled to the same standard of living as the children Cabrera has with his wife. In her push for more child support, she wanted to know how much money Cabrera spends on his Michigan family, on everything from tuition and extracurricular activities for his children to family vacations, birthday parties and field trips.
To Cabrera's chagrin, he now has to produce a lot of that information, including how much he spends on his kids' grooming, cosmetics, clothing and average monthly gifts.
Rodriguez's lawyer has argued his client is entitled to know all that.
"(Cabrera) attempts to portray (the) mother as some villainous criminal attempting to 'extort' him for money ... when just the opposite is the case. (She) has made every attempt to work with (the) father over the years regarding child support," Orlando attorney Terry Young, Rodriguez's lawyer, writes in court documents.
Young also disputes claims that his client is asking for too much.
"She has never attempted to 'extort' (Cabrera) for unreasonable sums of money in the hopes of securing 'alimony' for herself," Young wrote. "These minor children have done nothing wrong and certainly deserve the appropriate support from their father as Florida law requires."
Young argues the case is about the children, not the mother.
Cabrera's 2017 "decision to unilaterally reduce the child support to an amount not sufficient to meet the current needs of the minor children ... has left her with no choice but to pursue legal action to which the minor children — not her — are entitled," Young writes.
Hodas doesn't buy it, claiming in court documents that Rodriguez has launched a "smear campaign, filed solely to incite the father and attempt to persuade the public and the media that she is something more than that class of persons referenced by Kanye West in his hit single released in September 2005."
That hit single is titled "Gold Digger."
Tresa Baldas, Detroit Free Press Published 12:13 p.m. ET April 4, 2018 | Updated 9:49 p.m. ET April 4, 2018
After months of claiming the Detroit Tigers superstar did her wrong, Miguel Cabrera's ex-mistress has been awarded just more than $12,000 a month in child support — a sliver of the $100,000 a month she wants.
It's also exactly what the millionaire baseball player was already paying Belkis Rodriguez before she sued him for more money in an explosive paternity suit that revealed the affair and the two children he fathered with her. The boy is now 5; the girl 2½ — both of whom will get annual passes to Walt Disney World, Universal Studios and Sea World as part of a court order.
A Florida judge has ruled that for now, Cabrera must pay Rodriguez $12,247 a month in child support, in addition to financing the children's private schooling, day care, health insurance and extracurricular activities.
Rodriguez, meanwhile, can still fight for more of Cabrera's money for her children as the award is temporary. And if the latest court filings are any indication, she's on a mission to get more as she is still pushing to find out how much he spends on the three children he has with his wife.
Cabrera has arguedthat his personal finances are none of Rodriguez's business, but a judge in Florida says he has to provide some of that information to her, including how much he spends on his three kids' private school tuition, tutors, after-school activities and trips he has taken with his children outside the baseball season. He also has to disclose a list of any boats or airplanes he may own, and any contracts involving endorsements or sponsorships.
These details were disclosed in a court filing Wednesday in Orange County Circuit Court in Orlando, where Rodriguez sued Cabrera last August, claiming he left her and their two kids high and dry last year after his wife discovered the affair. She argued that given his $30-million annual salary, which equals $2.5 million a month, she was entitled to $100,000 a month under Florida's child support guidelines.
But what Rodriguez was really upset about was that Cabrera wouldn't leave his wife, according to court documents obtained by the Free Press.
"Following the birth of the second child, the mother became increasingly incensed by the father's refusal to leave his wife for her," Cabrera's lawyer, Benjamin Hodas, wrote in a court filing. "The mother would regularly threaten the father to expose their relationship, and children, to his wife and the media, and to file a paternity suit wherein she would seek 'millions of dollars' from him.
Out of fear, Hodas wrote, Cabrera caved to her demands. But the more he gave, "the greater the mother's financial demands increased," he wrote.
According to court documents, Cabrera had been paying Rodriguez $20,000 a month in child support without any court order, but cut the amount by $5,000 last summer. Rodriguez argued this was only done by Cabrera to appease his wife who discovered the affair and filed for divorce. Cabrera cut his payments, the woman's lawyer argued, because he wanted to stop the divorce proceedings, which ultimately did happen as his wife changed her mind.
Cabrera's wife, Rosangel, filed for divorce in April 2017. At about the same time, his then-mistress closed on a $1-million house that Cabrera helped her buy. Later that summer, Cabrera stopped paying Rodriguez the additional $5,000 a month in child support that he had agreed to pay when she bought the house, records show.
In August, Rodriguez hit Cabrera with a paternity suit, claiming she had no other choice but to sue Cabrera for leaving her with a lifestyle she couldn't afford. In addition to helping her buy the five-bedroom Spanish-style mansion, records show, Cabrera also showered Rodriguez with perks, including a trip to Europe, a Disney Cruise, $5,000 children's birthday parties and money for a Range Rover. He also spent $3,000 a month on travel for the two children to see him.
According to court records, Rodriguez's monthly expenses are nearly $9,500 a month. This includes: a $6,766 monthly mortgage payment, which includes insurance and property taxes; $150 lawn care; $65 for pest control; $150 for pool care; $261 for telephones and iPads for the two children; $1,300 for food, home supplies and restaurant meals.
Rodriguez, who drives a Range Rover, also spends $1,380 a month for her car payment, $300 for gas and $170 for car insurance.
Miguel Cabrera's mistress gets mansion and $12K a month in child support — and wants more
Miguel Cabrera makes $30M a year, shorts kids on child support | Kaffer
The lawsuit was filed during the end of Cabrera's worst season, when he batted .249 with 16 home runs and 60 RBIs while battling a back injury.
In court filings, Cabrera's lawyer has portrayed Rodriguez as a shakedown artist who is is trying to extort alimony from him, even though they were never married.
Rodriguez's lawyer has argued that Cabrera is a wealthy man who is shortchanging his client, when he should be paying her more given his wealth.
The two sides tried to settle the case for months, but the talks went nowhere. Cabrera's wife even attended two full-day mediations — an arrangement that Rodriguez agreed to "out of her desire to attempt to amicably settle this matter," her lawyer wrote in court documents.
In court documents, Rodriguez has argued that her children are entitled to the same standard of living as the children Cabrera has with his wife. In her push for more child support, she wanted to know how much money Cabrera spends on his Michigan family, on everything from tuition and extracurricular activities for his children to family vacations, birthday parties and field trips.
To Cabrera's chagrin, he now has to produce a lot of that information, including how much he spends on his kids' grooming, cosmetics, clothing and average monthly gifts.
Rodriguez's lawyer has argued his client is entitled to know all that.
"(Cabrera) attempts to portray (the) mother as some villainous criminal attempting to 'extort' him for money ... when just the opposite is the case. (She) has made every attempt to work with (the) father over the years regarding child support," Orlando attorney Terry Young, Rodriguez's lawyer, writes in court documents.
Young also disputes claims that his client is asking for too much.
"She has never attempted to 'extort' (Cabrera) for unreasonable sums of money in the hopes of securing 'alimony' for herself," Young wrote. "These minor children have done nothing wrong and certainly deserve the appropriate support from their father as Florida law requires."
Young argues the case is about the children, not the mother.
Cabrera's 2017 "decision to unilaterally reduce the child support to an amount not sufficient to meet the current needs of the minor children ... has left her with no choice but to pursue legal action to which the minor children — not her — are entitled," Young writes.
Hodas doesn't buy it, claiming in court documents that Rodriguez has launched a "smear campaign, filed solely to incite the father and attempt to persuade the public and the media that she is something more than that class of persons referenced by Kanye West in his hit single released in September 2005."
That hit single is titled "Gold Digger."
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