Actor Jon Cryer Ordered to Continue Child Support Payments Despite Having Primary Custody

“Two and a Half Men” television show actor Jon Cryer pays his former wife a hefty $8,000 per month in child support, even though he has close to full custody of their son.  Cryer has 96% of the parenting time while Sarah Trigger Cryer only has 4%.

The two married in 2000 and divorced four years later.  Sarah, also an actor, has not had a job since 2005 and is not inclined to look for work.  Jon and Sarah each remarried and Sarah had a second child.  Following a divorce from her second Husband, Sarah had custody of both her children when, in 2009, the two boys were removed from her after she was accused of being an unfit parent by Jon for leaving their son unsupervised, admonished by the court for negligent parenting, and allowed her second child to be injured while under her care.  Jon was awarded physical custody of their son.

Thereafter, Jon requested a reduction of his child support payments from $10,000 per month to zero, as he was now the sole custodial parent.  However, the trial court simply lowered the payments to $8,000 per month.  On appeal, the court determined that despite Jon’s increased timeshare, any further reduction would be against the best interests of their child and have a detrimental effect,  pointing to the fact that Sarah was in the process of reunifying with their son, and that a reduction in support would not allow her to maintain the home that their son would eventually return to once they were fully reunified.

Child support and child custody issues are difficult and complicated.  The Certified Family Law Specialists* at Lonich Patton Ehrlich Policastri have decades of experience handling complex and heavily disputed child support issues.  If you are involved in a contested child support case, contact the Certified Family Law Specialists* at Lonich Patton Ehrlich Policastri.  Please remember that each individual situation is unique and results discussed in this post are not a guarantee of future results.  While this post may include legal issues, it is not legal advice.  Use of this site does not create an attorney-client relationship.

*Certified Family Law Specialist, The State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization.