Why is Kathleen Kane filing a petition against her estranged husband even before the divorce is final?
There are certainly enough high-profile cases of alimony and child support to go around. Many involve celebrities in the fields of entertainment and sports, and a fair number involve politicians and public officials. Each case has its star power and many are complicated by multiple marriages with many children from more than one couple. For Pennsylvania residents, however, one is clearly high on the list of eye-catching cases — the one concerning convicted former Pennsylvania attorney general Kathleen Kane.
If you are involved in a divorce and overwhelmed by issues of alimony and/or child support, you should not have to muddle through alone. Though your situation may not be newsworthy or complicated by legal convictions, it will certainly be painful and complex. It is essential that you hire a highly competent and compassionate family law attorney to help you navigate the process.
Background
A Scranton native, Kathleen Kane became the first woman, as well as the first Democrat, to be elected to the position of Pennsylvania’s attorney general. She resigned this past August 17th after being convicted of abusing the powers of her office. The specific charges were that she leaked secret grand jury information in order to malign a rival and then lied under oath to cover up her crime. She is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 24th.
Kane is now asking a judge to order her estranged husband, Christopher Kane, to immediately pay her $1 million of the approximately $6 million she alleges he owes her in their divorce proceedings. She maintains that she requires a partial payment of joint assets in order to pay attorney fees. According to the Scranton Times-Tribune, the attorney fees she is referring to are those necessary for preparing for her sentencing and appeal for her perjury conviction.
Alleged Financial Distress
In her current petition, Kathleen Kane states that she is now unemployed and so has no income, apart from her alimony and the child support Christopher pays for their two sons, to use for her legal defense costs. The amount he now pays in alimony and child support is $19,000 a month. Her argument is that, in addition to the fact that the money will be awarded to her in the future (once the divorce is finalized), that Christopher should be willing to pay her this money upfront since providing her with the best defense possible will protect their children from the trauma they would suffer if she were to be imprisoned.
More Complications
Many months ago, Christopher Kane accused Kathleen of intentionally delaying resolution of their divorce and spending approximately $500,000 of campaign funds for her defense fees. He contends that the money she spent was his because he loaned her campaign $1.75 million. To complicate things further, she had previously accused him of siphoning about $1 million from a joint investment account without informing her. In the earlier judgment, she was awarded $100,000 in marital assets.