It doesn't always take a celebrity divorce to create a heated child support dispute. Heated, however, might not accurately describe billionaire Donald Bren's demeanor in court last month. The Forbes-lister stood trial in response to two of his adult children suing him for child support.

His two kids, ages 18 and 22, did not grow up with Bren as a regular father figure in their lives. Bren was never married to the kids' mother, Jennifer Gold, who reportedly attended the family law trial out of support for her children and had to hear some pretty harsh comments from Bren when he took the stand. When asked about the nature of his 13-year relationship with Gold, Bren told the court that he never told her that he loved her and that he never intended on living as a family with her or their children.

Bred did, however, provide for the children throughout their lives, and even the children admitted that they've never struggled financially. But based on the fact that they believe that Bren, their father, has billions of dollars and has lived an excessively lavish lifestyle, the children argued that they deserve more in child support than what was provided for them in the past.

Gold also argued that Bren owes the children more attention as a father based on his alleged promise that he would be there for them. When Bren allegedly ignored the children on one public occasion, the child support case against him developed.

The lawsuit's goal was to collect $400,000 a month for the children to make up for the years between 1988 and 2002. In total, the amount of retroactive child support owed would have been an estimated $134 million. But Bren and his attorney argued that he provided generously for the children and was in violation of no child support contract.

According to Bren, he paid for the children's health care and education, and he lived up to the agreement that he and Gold made when the children were born. Last month, a jury agreed with Bren; therefore, he is not required to pay the children any more child support.

Gold claims that the jury made the wrong decision and that her family plans on appealing the case.

Resource

USA Today: Jury: No more child support for billionaire Donald Bren's adult kids (8/27/2010)