Denise Richards was ‘blindsided’ by Monday’s court ruling which saw a judge agree that her ex-husband Charlie Sheen no longer her to pay child support.
Sources told Metro.co.uk that the actress was caught off guard by the court date because the Two and a Half Men star had kept pushing the court date.
The insider stated: ‘Denise wasn’t at court because she is working out of state which Charlie was well aware of and Denise was never served this court date.
‘He did this on purpose. He filed two years ago and he kept pushing the court date. Denise kept asking when the date was and he blew her off.’
The source added: ‘He pushed it off because he didn’t want records of the child support he was paying [ex Brooke Mueller] to impact the case after he agreed to pay them both the same amount of child support.
‘He hasn’t paid Denise in at least 4 years. No child support at all. He owes her.’
Another source added to People: ‘She was blindsided. Now he’s manipulating the situation.’
The court granted Sheen’s request to stop payments for Sami, 17, and Lola, 16, at a hearing in Los Angeles.
The Anger Management actor told Us Weekly outside the courthouse on Monday that the ruling was ‘extremely fair.’
Although Sam is now living full-time with Charlie, the source claimed Lola is only staying with him at the moment because of her mother’s current work commitments.
Speaking about Denise’s relationship with her children, the insider continued: ‘She didn’t have a falling out with her daughters and she cares about them deeply. But, Charlie condones behavior that he shouldn’t, and sets no rules. Sami prefers no rules.
‘Lola doesn’t live there permanently. She goes back and forth. Lola lives with Denise. When Denise is filming, Lola stays with her dad and sister.’
In court, the Platoon star’s lawyer claimed he was overpaying monthly in child support and had set up a $1.2 million trust for his daughters since filing his original petition.
The judge ruled child support for Denise should be at ‘zero’ and would be reflected retroactively to 1 April this year, which was when her ex-husband took on full-time care of the girls.
Charlie’s attorney claimed Denise owes his client money because he had overpaid for so long, but the actor has chosen not to recoup the funds.
However, the insider countered: ‘He hasn’t paid Denise in at least 4 years. No child support at all. He owes her.’
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