Hunter Biden agrees to pay child support in paternity case settlement
Hunter Biden has agreed to pay monthly child support to an Arkansas woman, court documents filed Monday show, in a temporary settlement reached just days before he was scheduled for a mandatory court appearance to explain why he hadn’t provided financial documents in his ongoing paternity case.
Monday’s agreement comes after Lunden Alexis Roberts filed a lawsuit in May against Biden seeking child support and health care for her child, who was born in August 2018. The judge in the case previously ruled that Biden is the biological father of Roberts’ baby, according to court documents, citing a DNA test that showed “with near scientific certainty” that Biden fathered the child. Biden had previously denied in a court filing that he had fathered the child.
The court documents filed Monday show Biden agreed to pay child support retroactive to November 2018. The court redacted the amount of child support Biden agreed to, which will start on February 1 and continue indefinitely until further order of the court.
Judge Holly Meyer wrote in her order that the amount Biden must pay could increase or decrease moving forward.
“If the evidence indicates that the defendant should have paid more in support than the amount set forth in this Order, the Court may order that he pay an additional amount after receiving credit for the amount he has paid,” she said.
As a result of the agreement, Biden will no longer have to appear in court this week. Biden has until March 1 to produce the required financial information to avoid a hearing on whether he should be found in contempt of court for his repeated failure to provide those documents.
In an interview with CNN, Clint Lancaster, an attorney for Roberts, reiterated the agreement between the two parties is not finalized.
“I’m pleased with the settlement on a temporary basis,” Lancaster said, noting he is waiting to receive additional financial information from Biden and to see if Biden follows through on his end of the deal, which calls for monthly payments to Roberts.
“We’re happy Ms. Roberts is getting support she was not previously getting,” Lancaster added.
Attorneys for Biden did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment Monday.
Biden’s legal troubles have been a continued source of attacks against his father, former Vice President Joe Biden, who is running for president. President Donald Trump and his allies’ attempts to pressure Ukraine to investigate Hunter Biden and Joe Biden, his potential political rival, is at the center of the impeachment trial currently taking place. Trump has repeatedly made unfounded and false claims to allege that the Bidens acted improperly in Ukraine. There is no evidence of wrongdoing by either Joe or Hunter Biden.
