Rubbish!
That’s how a Manhattan judge yesterday dismissed Patricia Duff’s claim that she needs nearly $135,000 a month — $1.6 million a year — from billionaire Ron Perelman to take care of their 4-year-old daughter.
In a scathing 22-page decision, state Supreme Court Justice Franklin Weissberg said Duff wasn’t seeking child support for little Caleigh Perelman — she was looking for “adult support” for herself.
Blasting Duff’s request as “excessive,” Weissberg ordered Perelman to pay the stunning socialite a total of $12,825 a month in child support — just $825 more than the Revlon chairman has been shelling out.
“The mother’s argument assumes that only material things matter in the life of a child and that if Caleigh is denied any imaginable luxury, she will be emotionally damaged,” Weissberg wrote.
“It does not require a degree in psychiatry to know that this assumption is rubbish. There are far more important things in the life of a young child than private jets, yachts, obsequious staffs and pandering guests.”
Duff, who’s been battling her 56-year-old ex-husband over custody and support since they split three years ago, was upset by the ruling, but isn’t sure if she’ll appeal.
“I feel as if I’m being tormented out of my rights … It shows what an enormous amount of money can do,” the 45-year-old Democratic fund-raiser said. “Well, [Perelman] can have his money. I just want my life back.”
Perelman’s spokesman, Howard Rubenstein, said, “Justice Weissberg’s decision speaks for itself.”
Duff had argued during her support trial that she needed more than $1.6 million a year to keep Caleigh in a lifestyle “reasonably similar” to the one she enjoys with the lipstick lord. The girl splits her time between Perelman and Duff — though she’s with Duff most of the time.
Perelman, who’s engaged to actress Ellen Barkin, has an estimated net worth of over $3 billion and “lives a life of great luxury,” Weissberg wrote, noting that the mascara magnate’s primary New York residence “consists of three townhouses,” and is “magnificently furnished.”
Perelman — who makes more than $40 million a year — also has luxurious estates in East Hampton and Palm Beach, and regularly travels by private
jet, helicopter and limousine.
But the judge noted that Duff, who has a 43-acre estate in Connecticut and rents a $30,000-a-month, two-bedroom apartment in Manhattan, is no pauper herself.
She estimated her net worth at $20 million — a figure the judge said “is clearly understated … The record establishes [her] net worth is at least $30 million.”
But Duff argued her fortune can’t approximate Perelman’s lifestyle.
Weissberg called Duff’s request for Hamptons housing “simply absurd,” and said Duff is entitled only to what Caleigh needs — not what Perelman can pay.
“A child-support award is not designed to fulfill the mother’s ‘wish list’; no matter how vast the father’s income, the award must relate to the actual needs of the child,” the judge wrote.
Weissberg said all Duff “needs” for her daughter is $7,500 a month for housing, $1,000 for travel and $4,325 for living expenses.
Sources said that is about $13,000 a month less than Duff was offered in settlement negotiations earlier this year — an assertion Duff’s camp denies.
A close friend of Duff’s said Weissberg’s decision — along with previous rulings by Judge Eileen Bransten in her custody case — has left the blond beauty in despair.
“She fears she’ll be in court until Caleigh’s 20,” the friend said.
How much she wanted and how much she got
The following is a monthly breakdown of the child support Patricia Duff testified she was seeking from billionaire ex-husband Ron Perelman to support their 4-year-old daughter:
Food and sundries- $1,252
Home entertainment- $400
Family events- $2,625
Dining out- $1,450
Clothing- $3,175
Education- $275 (rest already paid by Perelman)
Recreation- $3,585
Travel with Caleigh and nanny- $9,953
Insurance- $1,450
Unreimbursed medical- $1,000
Miscellaneous- $513
Added tax cost of New York taxes- $6,823
Domestic employees- $30,098
Housing- up to $72,000, plus one-time $2 million expense
TOTAL: $134,599
The following is what Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Franklin Weissberg ordered Perelman to pay Duff monthly:
Living expenses: $4,325
Travel: $1,000
New York City housing allowance: $7,500
TOTAL: $12,825
Perelman will also continue to pay for Caleigh’s education, after-school activities, camp, and medical expenses, as well as up to $60,000 a year for a nanny.