Court Rules Hedge Fund Manager Must Continue $50K Monthly Child Support Payments

A multimillionaire and hedge fund manager has lost his bid to reduce the $50,000 per month in child support he must pay to the mother of his six-year-old child.

Warren Lichtenstein must continue to make huge monthly payments to Annabelle Bond, a well-known Hong Kong socialite and the daughter of the former head of the HSBC Bank. In a July ruling, the Manhattan Supreme Court decided that Lichtenstein must abide by a ruling of the Hong Kong court that originally set the amount. In addition, the hedge fund manager must pay more than half a million dollars to Bond in legal fees and unpaid child support.

Child support payments this large are highly unusual, but the fact remains that these payments can represent a major financial burden for people from all walks of life. As we have previously discussed, there are a number of factors New York courts look at when determining child support arrangements, such as:

• The financial resources and needs of both parents and the children
• The emotional and physical needs of the children
• The previous standard of living the children enjoyed before the divorce
• Both parents’ potential tax consequences
• The non-monetary contributions of both parents toward well-being of the children
• The educational or occupational training needs of both parents

Once established, these monthly amounts can be very difficult to modify, as you must demonstrate to a court that your financial circumstances have changed so drastically that you can no longer afford to make payments. Thus, it’s important to work with a skilled and experienced divorce attorney to make sure you have a fair child support arrangement from the start.

To learn more about your options and to get the advice you need during this process, consult a dedicated Suffolk County child support attorney with Bryan L. Salamone & Associates