LEGENDARY tennis coach “King Richard” Williams’ bitter divorce from his ex-stripper wife has been dismissed by a judge this week.
The frail father of Serena and Venus has been trying for years to officially break ties with Lakeisha, who at 45 years old is nearly half his age.
Yet his health is on the wane after suffering from two strokes, memory loss, and the early onset of dementia, which has meant his son Chavoita Lesane has power of attorney.
Richard, 81, – who was immortalized by Will Smith in the Oscar-winning biopic King Richard – has always been defiant that he wants a divorce.
Yet, on Tuesday, in a dramatic twist to proceedings, the case was dismissed by Judge James Martz from the Palm Beach County family courts and is now officially closed.
Mystery surrounds as to why Richard hasn’t continued with the divorce and whether his deteriorating health has played any part.
He has been trying to divorce Lakeisha ever since he found out she had allegedly faked his signature on the title deeds to “steal” his four-bed mansion in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, which had been in the Williams family since 1995, according to court documents.
This resulted in Lakeisha taking out a $279k loan from “hard lender” David Simon, legal documents show, and she was accused in court of blowing the lot on a failed trucking business and “fast food and frivolities” – with Simon chasing her through the courts for the cash back.
The debt spiraled to $620k at one stage including legal fees and interest – and it now looks likely that she’ll lose the $1.4M-valued home to pay Simon back.
Yet, in June last year, Lakeisha claimed that Richard was acting under duress from a third party and filed a motion for the divorce to be dismissed – a claim she repeated in January.
But Richard stood firm for a divorce – until now.
The U.S. Sun contacted Chavoita for clarification, who simply said: “I’m waiting for directions from my Dad on which way he wants to move forward.”
Ageing Richard has been through the mill over the last few years with the alleged “theft” of his house being the tip of the iceberg.
It transpired from court docs this wasn’t the first time Lakeisha had faked Richard’s signature, she admitted she’d done it before so that she could sell his 1999 Bluebird Wanderlodge Motor Coach, worth $45,000, claiming it was to buy food for herself and their son Dylan, now ten.
In a court deposition, she said, “Mainly, I was broke by my husband [who] did not help me. It was my son and I not getting any money, so I had to sell it so I can eat and my son can eat… we didn’t have anything.”
Chavoita told The U.S. Sun she’d allegedly taken other vehicles and cashed social security checks.
He explained, “I can’t remember how long it was into the relationship as far as my dad starting to have financial headaches, like, ‘What’s going on with my social security checks?’
“Lakeisha took the Mercedes, she took the bus, she took money, what else was it? The motorcycle.
“There are so many things that she stole or forged documents for him. That’s considered elder abuse.”
‘SURPRISE’ DIVORCE
Court paperwork revealed that Lakeisha claimed to have no inkling that Richard wanted a divorce, saying they were living together as a married couple until May 2017 when he suddenly served her “dissolution papers”.
She revealed in a deposition that on the day he filed the divorce petition, he even gave her a kiss and prayed with her in the morning.
“He just came and gave me a kiss actually that morning, the morning of — and he will always, would share with me to pray, you know, to always pray for our family and then he left with Chavoita,” she said.
With the divorce being called off, it’s good news for Lakeisha, who was hit with a hammer blow last week by the bankruptcy courts.
MONEY WOES
The ex-nightclub dancer had her third bid for Chapter 13 bankruptcy thrown out after repeatedly failing to keep up with a $10k-a-week repayment plan to Simon.
Judge Mindy Mora’s granted the bankruptcy trustee’s motion for the case to be dismissed without prejudice.
Lakeisha will lose court protection – which stopped Richard’s former home from being foreclosed – with Simon gaining most of the monies from the sale – the rest will be split by over 20 other creditors.
But there is one sliver of hope – there’s currently nothing to stop her from immediately filing for Chapter 13 again, but this would add on more in legal and court costs.
She’d also have to prove that her situation has changed and can afford to keep up with a repayment plan.
If Lakeisha refiles, her automatic stay – protection from creditors – will only last 30 days.
