Aug 11, 2015
Judge considers how much child support Amir Johnson should pay
As TSN Senior Correspondent Rick Westhead writes, an Ontario court judge is considering how much child support former Toronto Raptors star forward Amir Johnson should be forced to pay the mother of his two-year-old daughter. And that re-visits the question - how much child support should a pro athlete be forced to pay?
An Ontario court judge is considering how much child support former Toronto Raptors star forward Amir Johnson should be forced to pay the mother of his two-year-old daughter.
Alana Jung, a 25-year-old college student studying early childhood education met Johnson several years ago and gave birth in September 2013 to his daughter, Amelia.
Jung says in court documents that she lived together with Johnson for 18 months, while Johnson says that their relationship, "was at best a 'casual sexual relationship' and that they were 'not in a committed relationship at any time.'"
Johnson, 28, has since left the Raptors and signed a two-year, $24 million (U.S.) contract with the Boston Celtics.
In October, an Ontario judge is expected to revisit a question that's important to many millionaire professional athletes: how much child support should an athlete be forced to pay, considering their high salaries don't last forever.
Jung is seeking child support of $50,000 a month. That's actually less than the $113,000 per month ($1.355 million per year) to which she is entitled, her lawyer said in court documents obtained by TSN.
"(Jung's) proposed budget is approximately $84,000 per month, which yields an aggregate of yearly expenses in excess of $1 million," says an Ontario Superior Court filing. "Plainly, this is a significant amount of money. Equally plainly, however, the respondent is earning a very significant income."
Jung's lawyer Richard Niman declined to comment.
Johnson's lawyer Grant Gold said in a court filing that Johnson has already been paying child support of $8,622 per month. Johnson has offered to immediately begin paying child support of $15,000 per month.
Jung's lawyer wrote that she is worried that if her demand for $50,000 per month isn't met, "the child will be deprived of the ability to live in the same kind of circumstances as the support-paying parent, when she has an entitlement to do so. It also allegedly exposes her to the risk of having no support in future if the support-paying parent does not carefully, and accurately, manage monies that he is now earning."
Gold referred questions to the NBA player's business manager, Corvaughn Cornelius. Cornelius declined to comment.
A prior child support lawsuit in 1999 involving NHL player Chris Simon established that it was appropriate for a professional athlete to pay as much as 7.9 per cent of his income in child support.
"In contrast, in (the Jung-Johnson) case, (Jung) is asking for an amount that totals only 3.93 per cent of the estimated income that Mr. Johnson will earn currently and over the next year," a court filing says.
A judge is expected to decide how much Johnson will be required to pay during a hearing in mid-October.