Child Support is worth £28,000 a month says supermodel Linda Evangelista

05-Aug-2011 Supermodel Linda Evangelista is demanding child support payments from her little boy's billionaire father Francois-Henri Pinault, named in a paternity case on 1 July this year.

One month later the Canadian supermodel appeared in a New York court to claim the huge child maintenance bill for the care of her 4 year old son, Augustin James Evangelista. A figure, it is reported, that “made the judge’s jaw drop’.

To most of us the £28,000 child support per month is a huge sum of money but is small change to Pinault - one of the richest men in France, with an estimated family fortune of £7billion. The Brittany-born entrepreneur is the chairman and chief executive of the luxury goods conglomerate, PPR, which owns the designer fashion brands Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen and Stella McCartney, as well as sports brand Puma, to name a few.

It is reported that Pinault, married to actress Salma Hayek, spends £30,000 a month on an estate held in trust for their 3 year old daughter, Valentina, whilst the cost of caring for Augustin has fallen entirely to Evangelista. William Beslow, Evangelista's lawyer, said: "He's just been sitting back, paying zero."

The Judge unsurprisingly rejected Evangelista’s request for £4,500 per month for ‘vacation’ expenses but was open to the idea of expensive child care and security. Evangelista asserts that the £28,000 a month is necessary to pay for 24-hour-a-day childcare and to hire former police detectives to be gun-wielding chauffeurs. She explained her reasons for round-the-clock childcare saying, "When I work, it can be a 16-hour day. On days when I do not work, I am working on my image; I have to hit the gym. I have beauty appointments. I have to work toward my next job and maintaining my image, just like an athlete.’

Pinault's lawyer David Aronson said "She testified that she wants to have a 24-hour nanny because she does not want to be alone with the child. Miss Evangelista, you should understand, has a worth of more than $8 million, and she earned, last year, $1.8 million."

The case continues.

For advice on Child Support please contact Lisa Kemp

---