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Noella Bergener has scored a court victory in her child support battle against her ex-husband, James Bergener, as her Bravo salary was also revealed in court.
Two years after the Real Housewives of Orange County star filed for separation from the personal injury attorney, Noella, 39, has been awarded $25,000 per month for their son, James Jr., who was born in 2019, after claiming she has no income or assets to her name.
According to court documents obtained by Radar Online on July 31, an Orange County Superior Court judge made the ruling and closed the case, also ordering James to pay another $5,000 monthly for back support.
As RHOC fans may recall, the original petition against James, which was filed for Noella by the County of Orange, claimed James was making $900,000 per month, requested $52,907 per month in child support, and asked for him to provide health insurance coverage for their child.
In response, James objected.
“I do not agree with the proposed guideline child support amount because the guideline calculation is based on inaccurate income information. The figure used for my income is based only on oral statements from Other Parent. Other Parent’s statements are not accurate, and she knows they are not accurate,” he said.
Meanwhile, in her own court documents, Noella, who appeared only on the 16th season of RHOC, said she was unemployed after raking in $46,000 during her time with Bravo and that her monthly expenses totaled $4,070.
“James goes months without seeing our son. He’s had 9 visits in the last 21 months. He has been in California often for cosmetic procedures, work, and commercial shoots without visiting our son,” she wrote, noting that because their son is autistic, he “requires occupational and speech therapy.”
Noella then said that after nearly 11 months without support from James, she maxed out a loan from her 70-year-old mother.
“I can’t afford rent and we had to move in with my boyfriend. I haven’t been able to provide anything close to the childhood our son had before his father left. All while having to watch James’ commercials claiming record rewards, and seeing thousand dollar meals charged to our country club membership in Puerto Rico. It’s embarrassing that this is what I am at,” she continued. “I never imagined that he would neglect to take care of his own child. I would not be here if he didn’t stop paying the $15k support which is more than half of what we agreed to in mediation.”
Also amid the recent hearing, Noella agreed she would use a percentage of James’ child support to get health insurance for her son since James “resides out of the state.”
Noella filed for separation from James in August 2021 after the IRS accused him of owing over $4 million in taxes and hit him with a massive tax lien as the State of California claimed it was owed $1.8 million. Then, months later, Noella filed for divorce and requested full custody of James Jr. as James filed his own petition in Puerto Rico.
The Real Housewives of Orange County season 17 airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on Bravo.