Woman, 74, wins $150,000 in child support — 50 years after divorce
A 74-year-old woman in California has been awarded child support from her ex-husband after he left her with their young daughter nearly 50 years ago.
Toni Anderson spoke to San Diego news station KGTV about her “deadbeat ex,” who she said left the country when their daughter was just 3 years old. Anderson’s ex-husband, Donald Lenhart, chose to leave the U.S. for Canada in the early 1970s after their divorce and, according to Good Morning America, only managed to send one $160 check that ended up bouncing. For the next 49 years, Anderson didn’t receive any of the money she was supposed to, until she found out that Lenhart returned to the county and demanded that he pay up.
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“I kind of put it on the back burner and just kind of forgot about it over the years,” Anderson told KGTV. “I realized in the middle of the night one night last year, ‘Hey, there’s no statute of limitations on child support.'”
Anderson learned Lenhart returned to the U.S. to live in Oregon, and she decided to find old court papers. In February, she notified her ex that he owed her.
Anderson solely supported her daughter, Lane Lenhart, 52, while working as an interior designer in Los Angeles. And while she admitted that she was able to send her daughter to college and the pair have been able to travel, “the money runs out.” Lane told Good Morning America that she was also impacted.
“It was a challenge for me because mom was always working, always had to support us so she was never around,” Lane said. “That was hard.”
Anderson is now retired and renting her part of the house she lives in, finding that money is tight, which led her to look into what her ex owes her from nearly a half-century ago.
“He was only supposed to give me like $160 a month. Well, that was 50 years ago. So that today is a lot more money,” Anderson explained to KGTV.
With the accrued interest of 10 percent a year, Good Morning America reported that the total payment owed by Lenhart has gone from $30,000 to $153,000. Anderson admitted that her ex is likely a bit panicked. Still, she is happy that she decided to pursue justice.
“I don’t think enough women get this. And I think they’re afraid,” she told KGTV. “I was panicked all these years. Now, it’s his turn.”
Anderson’s lawyer, Sara Yunus, didn’t immediately reply to Yahoo Lifestyle’s request for comment. However, she told KGTV that a settlement of $150,000 was reached on Wednesday. Anderson herself is hoping that this will inspire more women and single parents in California to go after what they are owed.
Lenhart, through his attorney, told Good Morning America in a statement that he “was glad to pay Ms. Anderson the child support that was owed.”
“I wish her only the best in the future. We had an informal agreement that I was operating off of after our divorce, but when Ms. Anderson filed her motion in 2018 to collect the $35,000 in principal plus interest, I hired a private investigator to locate her so I could offer her payment,” he said in a statement. “I am pleased we were able to reach an agreement.”
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