At first I was sympathetic to the supermodel mom in her demands for $46,000 a month from her billionaire ex-boyfriend. Then a top NYC divorce lawyer explained that she was playing with fire and her little 5-year-old son could have been the victim!
Linda Evangelista, you, and even worse, your adorable son Augustin (Augie) by billionaire Francois-Henri Pinault, could have been burned in the nasty child support war that went into Manhattan court, starting May 3.
That's because your demand for $46,000 a month was so over-the-top nutso, celebrity divorce attorney Raoul Felder, told Hollywoodlife.com exclusively, "Sometimes it doesn't hurt to ask for a lot of money in a child custody battle, but it can hurt a case like this because it's so absurd. It accentuates that she's trying to get mom support."
The problem with "silliness" as Felder described your demand for $15,000 - 16,000 just in car service and bodyguards for your son with Pinault, and for $90,000 in vacation cash, was that it could annoy the judge presiding over the case and it could have infuriated the father of the child, in other words -- Pinault - who holds the purse strings.
Pinault, your billionaire ex-boyfriend, who is now married to superstar Salma Hayek, had repeatedly tried to work out a child support agreement with you, since little Augie was born, but you had demanded more than he was willing to spend.
"Once a father is forced to go to court, he's usually ready to dig in his heels. He's angry," Felder warned. Often that means that a settlement that had been previously offered is taken off the table."
That means that not only could you, Linda Evangelista, have been awarded far, far less by the magistrate presiding over your case BUT you could have blown a good deal that Pinault probably offered for years and had now withdrawn. You would have been stuck with whatever the judge deemed was reasonable for your sons needs.
"The judge is a human and he or she is presiding over cases every day where mothers who are getting $50 a week are begging for $10 more," explained Felder. "The problem for Linda is that a carton of milk costs the same for a supermodel's child and for the child of a mom who is really needy."