Will Smith's ex-wife gets $900,000 and $18,000 per month alimony in divorce judgement

Jet, Dec 11, 1995

A divorce between "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" star Will Smith and his wife Sheree recently was finalized in Los Angeles, with her getting $900,000 and a number of possessions.

The two married in 1992 and had a son Willard C. Smith III, known as Trey, born in the fall of that year. Although the couple will have joint custody of their son, she will have primary physical custody and an additional $8,000 per month in child support, according to the divorce petition filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.

The actor also is required to establish a $1 million life insurance policy for his son and a $650,000 life insurance policy for his ex-wife as security for future spousal support. Additionally, he must pay $18,000 in monthly spousal support retroactive from Sept. 1, 1995. He must pay the spousal support until either he or his ex-wife dies or she remarries. Smith also is required to contribute $250,000 toward the purchase of a new home for his ex-wife and their son.

According to the divorce petition, the couple had $1.2 million in bank accounts at the time of their separation and other monies in various production companies, retirement benefits, television residuals, insurance policies, copyrights and a large property in Thousand Oaks, CA.

The settlement calls for Mrs. Smith to receive outright $900,000 (payable over four years); a 1992 Mercedes Benz 120; $37,500 for Mrs. Smith to purchase a Mercedes S-320 and all bank accounts that are standing in her name or jointly with someone other than Smith. The file stated that the couple had already divided all the community property, furniture and appliances "by mutual agreement."

Smith gets to keep outright his various production companies and business enterprises. He also gets to keep residual monies that come from the syndication of "Fresh Prince" and the airing on television of the movies he performed in such as Six Degrees of Separation, Made in America and Bad Boys.

Smith also gets to keep all to himself any retirement/pension monies, any profit-sharing he participated in, copyrights, all bank accounts he has in his own name and the property in Thousand Oaks. The court allowed Smith to keep all jewelry and furnishings he bought before the couple married.

According to the court agreement, Smith will have secondary custody of his son and the "right to visit him "at all reasonable times and places." The two worked out a schedule for custody during various holidays."

Smith is required to pay his exwife the $8,000 monthly child support until his son turns 18. The actor has set up an educational trust for his son. Currently, there is $25,000 in the trust and Smith will contribute $10,000 annually through the year 2010.

Her attorneys were paid $10,000 and his $11,700 for their work on the divorce.

Ebony South Africa, a new Johnson Publishing Company publication, continues Ebony's 50th anniversary celebration with a blend of South African and African-American features.

The November/December 1995 premiere issue is welcomed by President Nelson Mandela: "We join with other South Africans in welcoming this new venture. South Africans and Americans are bound together by history in a heritage of hope and struggle," Mandela said. "This is a significant opportunity to deepen that relationship and highlight positive developments that give hope and pride," he continued.

Publisher John H. Johnson, who founded Ebony in November 1945, the number one Black-owned magazine in the world for 50 consecutive years, echoes Mandela's sentiments.

"Ebony South Africa is a continuation of a dynamic that helped free both African-Americans and South Africans, and it reminds us that Africans and African-Americans are bound together by history and hope."

The cover story of Ebony South Africa's premiere issue features Miss Universe South Africa Augustine Masilela and former Miss South Africa Basetsane Makgalemele.

There are also stories on President Mandela, Denzel Washington, who recently visited South Africa, South Africa's most-watched TV actress Daphney Hlomuka, South African Basketball, "Dating In the New South Africa," Franklin Sonn, the first Black South African Ambassador in Washington, D.C. and a salute by Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Ebony South Africa is available on newsstands in South Africa and by subscription and special order in the United States. It is a joint production of African-American and South African investors.

Lerone Bennett Jr, executive editor of Ebony, also serves as executive editor of Ebony South Africa. D. Michael Cheers is managing editor based in Johannesburg and oversees a staff of South African writers there.