Randy Jackson isn’t the most well-known member of the famous Jackson family. But he does have something in common with his celebrity family: he’s got drama in his life. It isn’t unheard of for family law issues to drag on for longer than some families would like, but in this case, Jackson is fighting a child support fight over a kid that is now legally an adult.
In 1989, Jackson became the target of his ex’s paternity suit that sought child support for their daughter. However, Jackson claims that he was never officially informed about the paternity suit. He, therefore, missed a hearing and a judge ruled in favor of his ex, requiring Jackson to pay child support. Jackson claims that his lack of knowledge regarding that judgment continued until 2008, when the government went after his earnings.
While Jackson claims that he didn’t know of the paternity and child support ruling, he does claim that he thought another agreement was in place. He argues that he and his ex came up with their own financial agreement regarding the child, one that allowed his ex and her family to live on the Jackson family compound for free until the child turned 18.
There is supposedly paper evidence of that alleged agreement, evidence that was lost but then found in 2009. Jackson has filed a civil suit in response to the government’s taking of his money. He believes that such action was done wrongfully because he and his wife (whom he claims purposely kept him in the dark regarding the family court’s paternity decisions) already had an agreement.
It is somewhat hard to believe that Jackson could have gone for years without knowing about the child support he apparently owed. Did his ex not speak up when the payments were missed? If a court makes a child support ruling and the party doesn’t live up to it, the other parent has the right to fight for what he or she and the child are owed. That fight does, however, require taking initiative.
Source: Los Angeles Wave, “Judge delays hearing in Randy Jackson paternity case,” June 25, 2012