RETIRED tennis coach “King” Richard Williams had his divorce thrown out because he was “terrified” of being misunderstood in court after a series of strokes, according to his son.
Serena and Venus’s father, who trained them from a young age, survived three strokes and fell into a coma before undergoing life-saving brain surgery.
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Although he is now doing well in his health battle and still has mobility, his son, Chavoita LeSane, revealed that he had to convince a judge to dismiss his father’s case after he failed to show up in court.
The 81-year-old man filed for divorce from his ex-wife Lakeisha, 45, in May 2017 after seven years of marriage.
He was desperate to make their split official, but the couple got into a dispute after she admitted to forging his signature and transferring his home in Palm Beach, Florida, into her name.
In a dramatic turn of events, the case was dismissed by Judge James Martz this month and is now officially closed.
Explaining the situation, his son Chavoita told The US Sun: “With the strokes and stuff, he’s terrified of the court proceedings.
“He was supposed to appear in court, but he didn’t. I’m not sure of the exact date, but we had to dismiss the case.
“It wasn’t just a courtroom, he was supposed to appear for his statement.
“I had to talk to the lawyer and say, ‘He’s not going to survive.’ It was terrible.
“He didn’t realize he needed to go to court. He said, ‘Just give me a week to prepare for this.’ But the lawyer couldn’t make it a week and hates being pressured.
“The last lawyer ruled that he was not fit to stand trial, and that was seven years ago.”
It was previously revealed that doctors in Miami operated on him more than six years ago because he suffered from neuralgia – pain caused by damaged or irritated nerves.
Microvascular decompression (MVD) relieves “abnormal compression of a cranial nerve that causes trigeminal neuralgia, glossopharyngeal neuralgia, or hemifacial spasm,” according to an online search.
The brain itself remains untouched as doctors access the membrane covering it, opening the skull and inserting a sponge between the nerve and artery, triggering pain signals.
He has been doing well since the surgery and is now caring for his son, Dylan, who was born in 2012, with Lakeisha.
Richard and Lakeisha Divorce Timeline
Photo credit: Getty
Richard Williams has wanted to finalize his divorce from Lakeisha Graham for years, but the case has dragged on amid a fight over the marital home.
The couple married in 2010, when Lakeisha was 32 and Richard was 69.
Williams is an active father to his son, Dylan, known as Junior, and has tried to maintain a good relationship with his ex despite the court case.
May 2017
- Richard filed for divorce from Lakeisha after seven years of marriage. He alleged in his complaint that she had forged her name on a deed transfer to his home and stolen his Social Security checks.
March 2020
- Court documents revealed excerpts from Lakeisha’s testimony, in which she admits to having forged her ex’s signature and also selling her 1999 Bluebird Wanderlodge Motor Coach, worth US$45,000. But she claimed she did it because he had starved her and her son, which her legal team denied.
February 2022
- Lakeisha told a judge that her stepdaughter Serena wanted to keep her out of the family home. She claimed a letter from the tennis star’s lawyers “threatening to change the locks” if she did not vacate the property. His legal team at the time did not respond to requests for comment.
June 2022
- Richard filed a $1 million lawsuit against Lakeisha, despite her claiming in court documents that they had reconciled and were sleeping together again, which he later denied.
July 2022
- Their home was valued at $1.45 million and was supposed to be auctioned, but Lakeisha filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy and put the sale on hold. The bankruptcy case was dismissed on July 5, but she filed for reinstatement claiming she had found money for a repayment plan. She was hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt after taking out a huge loan from a lender and failing to repay it.
January 2023
- The US Sun caught up with Richard for a world exclusive interview, in which he accused former stripper Lakeisha of “taking everything” and spending his money. Asked how he feels about the split, he said: “I just want a divorce. It’s been six years, man. Just a bunch of rubbish, rubbish, rubbish. [I’m] I’m tired of this rubbish now.” But he appeared no closer to finalizing the process and his case was dismissed by a judge.
- It was revealed that Lakeisha was struggling to stick to her repayment plan as she fought to keep the house, where she allegedly lived, despite it needing extensive repairs.
April 2024
- Richard missed the hearing and testimony because he suffers from speech problems due to strokes and did not want to be misunderstood. As a result, he had the case dismissed, but plans to file again. Lakeisha tried for months to keep the house from being sold at auction by filing for Chapter 13 bankruptcy three times, but each attempt failed. The pair’s divorce is expected to resume and drag on for months as she continues to live in the run-down house.
Chavoita continued: “The judge ordered all of this [recently], and to make sure he didn’t disrespect the court, the lawyer and I decided to simply dismiss the case and then resume the divorce. That is what happened. He becomes paranoid.”
Chavoita, who was once his father’s caregiver, said he was not allowed to attend his father’s testimony and wanted his son’s support due to his speech problems.
“He wants me to coach him because when he says ‘yes’ sometimes he means ‘no,’ and when he says ‘yes’ he means no,” his son said.
“He would never want his words to be misinterpreted. That was the problem.
“The divorce will be resumed, but we have to resolve this.
“Lakeisha is trying to talk him out of the divorce, it’s his choice, and just draw up paperwork saying she won’t get anything from him if anything happens.
“I asked the lawyer to draw up the paperwork if that’s what he wants to do. But when I spoke to him recently, he just said, ‘No, I just want to divorce Lakeisha.'”
INCREASED DEBT
Meanwhile, former stripper Lakeisha is facing serious financial problems after taking out a $279,000 loan from “hard money loan shark” David Simon.
She was accused in court documents of spending money on a failed trucking business, “fast food and frivolities” – with Simon chasing her through the courts to get his money back.
At one point, his debt grew to a whopping $620,000, including legal fees and interest.
This month, she had her third Chapter 13 bankruptcy bid rejected after failing to meet a $10,000-a-week repayment plan for money she owed.
He didn’t realize he needed to go to court. He said, ‘Just give me a week to prepare for this.’ But the lawyer couldn’t get it for a week. And he hates being pressured.”
Richard’s son, Chavoita LeSane
Judge Mindy Mora granted the bankruptcy trustee’s request that the case be dismissed without prejudice.
Lakeisha will lose her court protection – which prevented the Palm Beach home from foreclosing – with Simon making most of the money from the sale.
The remainder will be shared by more than 20 other creditors.
However, she could immediately refile for Chapter 13, although doing so would increase her legal fees and mounting debts.
The house the pair are fighting over is where Serena and Venus spent much of their childhood.
It sits on a 10.36-acre lot with four bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms and Lakeisha is believed to still be living at the property despite it needing major renovation work.
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
