Dad Demands $5,800 Spousal Support Be TERMINATED After 33 Years — Mom Explodes in Court

Added: 2026-05-30

[00:00:00]He wants to just discontinue paying spousal support when I've been the housewife for over 33 years.

[00:00:11]In the matter of the marriage of Kathy Ann Pauls and John Albert Pauls, case number 2024 DM349.

[00:00:20]The petitioner, Kathy, appears apparently representing herself at this point, her previous attorney having withdrawn from this case.

[00:00:28]Uh Riley Broiles appears as counsel for John in this case, who apparently is appearing in the office of his attorney by Zoom.

[00:00:37]This matter comes before the court at this time for a pre-trial conference.

[00:00:41]Court does have respondent's pre-trial questionnaire. Appreciate that, counsel.

[00:00:45]Your client's position is clear to the court.

[00:00:49]Kathy, I don't have a pre-trial uh questionnaire from you.

[00:00:54]I didn't know I needed to give one.

[00:00:56]All right. Uh have you had an opportunity to look at the respondent's pre-trial questionnaire?

[00:01:03]Briefly.

[00:01:05]I do have issues, though.

[00:01:08]Okay, have you communicated your issues to Ms. Broiles?

[00:01:12]Um we tried when I had an attorney before, but the numbers on um like [snorts] Morgan Stanley and everything else, it keeps changing.

[00:01:26]So, I wanted you here as a witness to everything. I wanted to ask questions of like there's it's ridiculous.

[00:01:43]The difference >> what's ridiculous?

[00:01:46]Um he has listed like the uh Celica and the Cadillac as um assets and they those were gifts.

[00:02:04]Um and the original amounts that were on listed like the Morgan Stanley for it was originally 820,000 432 and 11 cents and now it's 800,758 55 cents. That's almost a difference of $20,000.

[00:02:39]And the portfolio management, there's a difference of almost 15.

[00:02:46]And uh the UMA 4897 there's a difference of almost well, a little over 7100.

[00:02:57]All right, can you explain these discrepancies, Ms. Broyles?

[00:03:02]Yes, to a degree, Your Honor. So, the original amounts that we had listed were from a old spreadsheet and then we were able from Morgan Stanley and then we were able to obtain more accurate information from Morgan Stanley with updated statements and so we updated the spreadsheets accordingly. And the first couple spreadsheets, we didn't have all of the information we needed um but since that time we have received the correct information and we I believe I have to double-check my emails, but I believe we provided that information to Ms. Bolton's previous attorney prior way prior to her withdrawal in the case, Your Honor.

[00:03:42]Right. Uh is there consistency in the valuation date on this spreadsheet?

[00:03:47]Yes, I believe there as close as we can get it, Your Honor. There should be.

[00:03:51]Okay.

[00:03:52]Okay, wait a minute.

[00:03:55]The date Let's see.

[00:04:05]On this spreadsheet was January 28th of 25.

[00:04:13]When was the last time you received information from Morgan Stanley?

[00:04:19]All right, guys. Today we're stepping into a courtroom battle that instantly turns tense.

[00:04:25]A woman claims her husband wants to cut off support after 33 years of marriage, while suspicious money discrepancies begin raising serious questions right from the start.

[00:04:36]So, the the figures that we are using for the Morgan Stanley account are from December 2024 reports.

[00:04:44]Yeah, this is from January. These differences are from January.

[00:04:49]I'm not sure what You're I'm not sure what she's looking at, so it's hard for me to say what what where what she's looking at versus what it was included in our pre-trial questionnaire. And I mean, frankly, I mean, at trial, I'm happy to provide all of the support supporting documentation that supports the figures that are on our spreadsheet. So, I don't want to box myself into a corner by making statements. I don't have the statements I I wasn't prepared to fully discuss those today, so All right.

[00:05:20]Uh Oh, and >> So, you're requesting this court establish evaluation date essentially a date of filing, which would relate back to September of 2024.

[00:05:31]Is that correct, Ms. Broyles?

[00:05:33]Yes, Your Honor. I will say I I kind of a caveat, one of our the Morgan Stanley figures that we're going off of are from a December 2024 report that we have, and that was that's close as we I believe as close as we could get it to the date of filing. All right.

[00:05:53]Is there any problem with that being the valuation date?

[00:05:56]Kathy.

[00:05:58]No, not at all, but the numbers have changed. I mean, even the one that I received today have changed since January.

[00:06:14]All right, I'm not surprised that account values would change even on a monthly basis. Either they're going to go up or down.

[00:06:22]Absolutely, but it was ordered by the court for accounts to be frozen at the November 1st uh court date.

[00:06:34]>> been invasion of these accounts? There has not, Your Honor. I would assume that any changes um are as a result of the market changing. These are investment accounts. All right, that certainly seems logical.

[00:06:47]Okay.

[00:06:48]So, also the money that he took out of the checking account when he was issued the restraining order and gave it to Morgan Stanley that needs to be put back. I was supposed to be issued $75,000 in difference because of what was sent to Morgan Stanley. It was half of what he had sent to Morgan Stanley as an investment and I never got that back.

[00:07:25]As well as he wants me to give him the house and he's talking about his father's Cadillac or Corvette, which I have no issues in just giving him because it's an heirloom.

[00:07:43]But I also used my inheritance to put a down payment on that house of $60,000.

[00:07:51]And we bought that house together.

[00:07:54]So why would I just give it to him?

[00:07:57]I don't know why you're getting into this today.

[00:08:01]Well, exactly. I don't >> this isn't a trial.

[00:08:05]And I just want to determine if we have disputes and what issues are in dispute. Really, these discussions might be better held with Ms. Broyles.

[00:08:15]Because this is where the financial drama explodes.

[00:08:18]Thousands of dollars appear to shift between account reports, the judge starts questioning timelines, and both sides begin clashing over whether these changing numbers are innocent or something much bigger.

[00:08:29]If you have a complaint with their proposal, they've at least laid out for you what they're going to be proposing to the court. You haven't done that for them.

[00:08:37]I did I don't know the law. I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I And also it's >> I think you do because you seem to be able to identify disputes quite readily, where your problems are with their proposal. Here here would be my suggestion. In fact, it would be my order.

[00:08:55]Uh Kathy, if you're going to represent yourself on this thing, then I'm going to establish uh 14 days from today's date for you to give a formal response to Ms. Broyles on the issues on the pretrial questionnaire.

[00:09:11]Okay.

[00:09:13]If it could be done in a manner that she could understand, you might even just take a copy of it, write your comments on it. I'm not going to tell you what format to use, but if you've got an issue with what her proposals are, you let her know what those issues are.

[00:09:29]Okay.

[00:09:31]And uh >> You have 14 days to do that because I think Ms. Broyles needs to know what's in dispute and what isn't?

[00:09:38]Okay.

[00:09:39]As well as perjury and uh I I don't know what you mean by perjury.

[00:09:45]On the trial from November 1st.

[00:09:49]Okay, there wasn't a trial on November 1st.

[00:09:51]>> Well, there was a hearing conducted. He got on the stand and basically just um he lied.

[00:10:01]Just outright lied.

[00:10:05]And it's $4 a page to have it printed out in Butler County to have the transcript printed.

[00:10:15]I can't afford that.

[00:10:18]And he's supposed to pay his uh alimony on the 1st of every month.

[00:10:25]Last month he didn't pay until the 10th.

[00:10:27]This month I still haven't gotten it.

[00:10:31]I He took everything we had.

[00:10:34]I don't have a job. I'm disabled. I'm upset.

[00:10:39]And I think >> you receiving disability from a government >> No. No. Okay. Uh he stole my identity.

[00:10:46]Everybody is using my identity. These are baseless allegations, perjury, identity theft. There's no basis for these allegations. I'm going to object to this line of So, so noted. Again, this is she's not under oath. It's not testimony.

[00:11:03]She may have a basis for what she's saying and she may not. I'm not going to try to sort that out today. Just be careful what you say here.

[00:11:11]Cathy, I just hope that if you are going to make accusations, you got proof to back it up. I do.

[00:11:16]Okay.

[00:11:18]That's the kind of thing that we sort out at the trial.

[00:11:21]Um at least right now I don't have a real perception that there's anything that's undisputed.

[00:11:28]There's if so, very little.

[00:11:31]We've got issues regarding property uh valuation, property division, uh perhaps spousal support. Mhm.

[00:11:41]Those issues still exist.

[00:11:45]You know, the fact of the matter is is This hearing suddenly turns personal fast.

[00:11:52]Kathy accuses her husband of lying under oath, taking money before court orders, and leaving her with nothing. The tension spikes even higher when identity theft allegations enter the courtroom discussion.

[00:12:04]I just wanted it to be fair and equal and reasonable.

[00:12:12]I mean, he wants to just discontinue paying spousal support when I've been the housewife for over 33 years.

[00:12:24]So, yeah. Are you capable of rejoining the workforce?

[00:12:29]No, because uh I pretty much gave up my mobility having children, raising those children.

[00:12:39]I uh used to get ablations on my lower back. They'd give eight different sections of my lower back. I can't afford that anymore.

[00:12:51]And I had to quit jobs because of the pain.

[00:12:56]I do not take pain medicine.

[00:12:58]I do not drink.

[00:13:02]So, yeah, there's not much I can do.

[00:13:15]I've had surgeries. I've had my left knee replaced three times, my right once.

[00:13:22]I've had a microdis- I've had seven different surgeries.

[00:13:34]>> All right, Ms. Broyles, unfortunately, this court does not have May or June trial dates to offer.

[00:13:42]In fact, I think that the most viable trial date that I can offer at this point would be Tuesday, July 29th.

[00:13:49]Mandy, would you check that to make sure nothing else got scheduled very recently here?

[00:13:57]Tuesday, July 29th.

[00:14:00]That would work for me, your honor. Very well.

[00:14:05]But we'll establish Tuesday, July 29th, 9:00 a.m.

[00:14:10]Courtroom B, in person, Butler County Judicial Center in El Dorado, Kansas.

[00:14:22]Um I want to establish a deadline for providing of an exhibit notebook.

[00:14:30]Broyles, um Kathy, you're going to have to provide to the opposing party your exhibit notebook 5:00 p.m.

[00:14:43]on Friday, July the 25th. I would ask I suppose since we're doing it in person, I don't necessarily need it in advance, but I want the opposing party to have their their exhibits provided to the other party by the Friday before.

[00:14:59]Okay. That'll give you only one business day to scrutinize what's in it, but I I think under the circumstances, that's that's appropriate. Friday, July 25th, by 5:00, exchange of any documentary exhibit that you intend to introduce. I would prefer it to be in an organized notebook form.

[00:15:20]Okay. Broyles, I know you're quite familiar how to do that. I I trust Cathy will also do the same.

[00:15:27]I'll seek some advice.

[00:15:30]Okay.

[00:15:30]So, what it comes down to, Cathy, you're going to need probably to make three of them. You're going to need one to provide to Ms. Royals. You're going to need one for yourself. You're going to need one for the court.

[00:15:41]Okay.

[00:15:42]That is if there are any documents that you intend to introduce.

[00:15:46]Mhm.

[00:15:47]And I kind of get the impression that you might.

[00:15:50]Mhm.

[00:15:51]And it's your decision to represent yourself in this case?

[00:15:55]I am going to try and find counsel.

[00:15:59]Um I don't know if I can afford any.

[00:16:02]So, um yeah, it'll probably be myself then.

[00:16:07]You're on the further record she's receiving $5,000 of spousal maintenance a month.

[00:16:12]Um I've also been jumping around from hotel to hotel because I did not want to stay here. And this court case has been drug out for so long that I finally found a place to stay.

[00:16:27]So, as soon as I can save a little bit, then yes, I will most definitely find some counsel.

[00:16:37]This may be the most emotional moment of the entire hearing. After decades as a housewife, Cathy explains the physical pain, surgeries, and sacrifices that now leave her unable to work while fighting to keep financial support alive.

[00:16:52]Okay, it's just that we do do need to have an end to this case. It's Absolutely.

[00:16:58]Exactly. And we've established a firm trial date in person on July 29th. Okay.

[00:17:05]And you've got a couple of months here to get your your house in order and everything prepared. Right.

[00:17:13]>> We'll expect both parties to be ready to present evidence to try to work toward finalizing this case on July the 29th.

[00:17:21]Absolutely. Okay.

[00:17:24]And remember you're about that 14 days to get your position uh in writing to Ms. Broyles.

[00:17:33]Okay, which means I my position What do you mean my >> issues that she she's laid out in her pre-trial questionnaire, her client's position on I think all the issues in the case.

[00:17:46]>> Okay. Okay, I got you. All right.

[00:17:48]If that isn't okay with you No, that's fine. I will >> need to make sure she knows exactly what parts of it you're disputing and what your position in return would be.

[00:18:02]Okay.

[00:18:04]Okay.

[00:18:05]Cuz that's it's only fair because you already know that they need to >> They need to know your side.

[00:18:11]Absolutely. Okay.

[00:18:13]Very good.

[00:18:14]Trial date again, uh Tuesday, July the 29th starting at 9:00 a.m. Courtroom B Buckler County Judicial Center.

[00:18:23]All right, Ms. Broyles, anything else that the court needs to address at this time? I do not believe so, Your Honor.

[00:18:28]Would you like me to file a pre-trial conference order?

[00:18:32]Um essentially what would you include in this order since you don't really have Excuse me.

[00:18:40]I apologize for interrupting. Go ahead.

[00:18:42]Just the deadlines and the trial date of the notes.

[00:18:46]Uh please do so, counsel. I think that would be helpful for purposes of uh uh stating it in the record.

[00:18:53]Okay. So, thank you. I I appreciate your efforts in that regard.

[00:18:57]All right, Kathy, uh anything further we need to address at this time?

[00:19:01]The transcript from the trial on November 1st.

[00:19:07]>> Okay, that was a hearing, not a trial, but >> Well, I You can order you can order that from the court reporter, but you'd have to make the appropriate deposit for for their preparation.

[00:19:19]Right.

[00:19:20]Okay.

[00:19:21]All right. Okay.

[00:19:25]All right.

[00:19:25]>> then.

[00:19:27]Uh if there's nothing further, then uh this matter will currently be in recess, and this meeting may be ended for all at this time.

[00:19:35]The courtroom pressure reaches another level as the judge officially sets the trial date and warns both sides to prepare. Financial struggles, hotel living, and the fear of facing trial alone leave this case ending with major uncertainty ahead.

[00:19:49]And that wraps up today's courtroom breakdown. If you enjoyed this case analysis, make sure to like the video, subscribe to the channel, and turn on notifications so you don't miss the next courtroom drama.

[00:19:59]We'll see you in the next video.