Alimony troubles for NBA champ Dwayne Wade

 Posted on July 15, 2013 in Alimony

In an Illinois divorce, an Agreed Preliminary Injunction, or API, can require that the divorcing parties set up a shared bank account into which income should be deposited. Funds can then be allocated to the proper recipients, and this kind of agreement may be especially useful in a high-asset divorce.

Three-time professional basketball champion Dwayne Wade has recently run into legal trouble over what his former wife claims was a conspiracy to avoid putting money into a court-ordered account that was set up for Wade's marketing and endorsement income. Dwayne's ex, Siovaughn, has filed a lawsuit against him, his sponsors and his lawyers for civil conspiracy and breach of contract.

In 2008, when the former spouses divorced, they entered into an API stating that the entirety of Dwayne's income from endorsements should be deposited "immediately and directly" into an account the parties mutually chose.

After the court approved the injunction, Siovaughn says she sent documents to her ex's business partners to let them know that payments to Dwayne should go directly into the shared account. Her lawsuit claims that the API was breached when Dwayne and his business partners intentionally failed to comply. Siovaughn is seeking about $1 million in damages.

The conspiracy allegation will probably be more difficult to support than the allegation that Siovaughn didn't receive the money to which she was legally entitled. In this latter case, the divorce court may take a hard view of Dwayne's alleged failure to comply with a spousal maintenance agreement. In some of these cases, the paying spouses may be hit with penalties that are more demanding than the original alimony amount.

If you would like to learn more about alimony and child support in Illinois, please visit our Wheaton spousal maintenance site.

Source: Forbes, "Dwayne Wade Lawsuit Proves That Not Even Sponsors Are Safe From Divorce Court," Jason Belzer, July 11, 2013