U Make Me Wanna Pay, Pay, Pay: Usher’s ex asks him to pay her legal bills

Photo credit: David Berkowitz

In the latest legal development in Usher’s divorce, ex-wife Tameka Foster Raymond has asked a judge to make the Grammy winner, born Usher Terry Raymond IV, pay her legal bills in an upcoming custody battle over their two sons.

The couple divorced in 2010 and had a joint custody agreement. But the former Mrs. Raymond claims that the ‘Raymond v Raymond’ crooner has violated terms of that agreement by going out of state with the children, hiring nannies without her approval and taking away her Saks Fifth Avenue card. She even asked the judge to order that her ex be drug tested.

Now, in anticipation of her attempt to gain full custody, Tameka has filed a motion before a judge in Atlanta asking Usher to front her $15,000 to pay her lawyer and $35,000 in other legal costs including hiring experts, paying for private investigators, and interviewing witnesses.

The issue of attorneys’ fees comes up all the time in divorce.

Tameka claims Usher should pay for her legal fees because the huge difference in their incomes gives her a disadvantage in making her case.

In divorce cases where one spouse has no assets and the other has significant means, a judge may order the wealthier spouse to pay for the other’s legal bills, said family law attorney Jennifer Cisneros.

“If all the bank accounts are in [Usher]’s name and she may not have access to any money, the court could award her a sum of funds to carry on the suit,” said Cisneros.

In one case in which Cisneros represented a wife with a large inheritance in her name against a husband who had no job and no assets, the husband asked for and got a judge to order the wife to cover $15,000 of his legal fees.

‘Icing on the cake’

Attorney Jennifer Cisneros

In virtually every case, the spouse who earns less will put in a request that the wealthier ex pay the legal bills.

“I always ask for costs,” said Cisneros, who added that she usually makes the request at the same time as a motion for temporary custody or a temporary support order before the final hearing.

But what she tells her clients is not to expect to win their legal costs.

“I caution my clients to consider it icing on the cake and to plan their litigation strategy on what one can afford,” she said.  

All too often, angry exes will wage all-out war on each other thinking their attorneys’ fees will be reimbursed later.

This can drive up legal costs and also backfire, because courts have wide discretion in whether or not to award legal fees, and judges will consider the behavior of the parties.

“If the wife is asking for the husband to pay her legal fees and is playing games or is not sympathetic, she is not likely to have her fees awarded. Same for the husband: If he is playing discovery games and runs what would be a $20,000 case up to $50,000, the court may award the wife more,” said Cisneros.

Judges will also look to each spouse’s ability to pay the attorneys’ fees.

“If a couple is splitting up $1 million, and the wife is getting half, then there’s plenty of money to pay an attorney,” said Cisneros.

But if a husband has significant premarital assets and the wife has no assets or is in debt – as is the case more and more these days – a judge is more likely to award the wife fees in that case.

A judge in most cases will award some, but not all, of the attorneys fees requested.

“I have never had a case where 100 percent of the fees were awarded,” Cisneros said.

Learn more about divorce and child custody and find a lawyer to review your legal issues.