California woman gets spousal support 50 years after split

March 27, 2019, 20:46 GMT

By Rima Abdelkader and David K. Li

A Californian woman has been awarded a settlement of US $ 150,000 for her husband's alimony, nearly 50 years after his departure from the family, said Wednesday with his lawyer.

Toni Anderson, 73, a retired interior designer from Carlsbad, in northern San Diego County, said she has raised her daughter, now 52 years old, alone, since her husband, Donald Alan Lenhart had left them.

Anderson stated that Lenhart had moved to Canada and made no payment despite a court order.

The woman reported having worked as a single mother in two jobs and taking food stamps to make ends meet. Then, years later, she realized that it was clear that Lenhart still owed all this alimony.

Anderson thought Lenhart could be back in the United States. She therefore made her initial decision of 1970 relating to child support and went to the San Diego County Child Support Services Office, where federal tax records placed Lenhart in the US. Oregon, said his lawyer.

He was ordered to appear in court – and he did.

"I did not expect him to show up," Anderson told NBC News. "I was really shocked to see him."

Lenhart was not obliged to attend the hearing last week and could have allowed his attorney to deal with the entire case, lawyers said on both sides .

"He (Lenhart) must have looked like a ghost (Anderson)," said Anderson's lawyer, Sara Yunus.

Anderson asked him why he had come forward and his response surprised him.

"Because I have to come and ask for your forgiveness," Anderson remembered. "We had tears in our eyes."

Lenhart's principal was $ 35,000, or $ 160,000 with interest and penalties, according to lawyers on both sides. They arranged for $ 150,000 and Lenhart was two years old to pay for it.

"It was just a big time shutdown for both of us," said Anderson. "Forgiveness was great on both sides."

Lenhart did not pay any alimony for all those years, thinking that he and his wife had entered into an amicable negotiation agreement in 1970, absolving him of any payment, said the company. 39, this man's lawyer on Wednesday.

"I was happy to pay Mrs. Anderson the child support owed her and I wish her only the best in the future," Lenhart said in a statement issued by her lawyer. "I hired a private investigator to find her so that she could offer her payment, and I'm glad we were able to reach an agreement."

The girl, Lane Lenhart, also an interior decorator, said she was moved by the single parents' response on social networks to her mother's settlement since the news of her family's case.

"Since Mom put it all in the world, there have been comments from people who are dealing with the same thing," Lenhart said. "The general consensus is that there are many people, women, who take care of this and do not know what to do."