[On behalf of Brodie & Friedman, P.A. posted in High Asset Divorce on Thursday, November 3, 2011]
a’Before the wife of the former governor of Florida married Charlie Crist in 2008, she was married to Todd Rome, the wealthy owner of a private company called Blue Star Jets. The businessman recently filed a lawsuit suing his ex-wife for child support for their teenage daughters.
Carole Rome, know now as Carole Crist, left her husband in 2007 in a high-asset divorce and married Florida’s Republican governor Charlie Crist the following year. Charlie Crist served as governor until last year.
Todd Rome has primary custody of their 13- and 15-year-old girls and claims that the child support lawsuit against Carole Crist has little to do with money. According to the filing, Carole Crist actually has no legal responsibility to pay child support. No court order ever demanded it and the jet company owner is in a position where he does not really need the support.
The Blue Star Jets executive says the suit is to bring attention to the fact that the former first lady abandoned her children by cutting off contact with them.
Rome, who has remarried, asserts that Carole Crist has not offered any financial support for her children nor has she stayed in touch with her daughters. Reports say Crist failed to visit the teenagers for graduations and birthdays.
The former first lady of Florida has not publicly commented on the lawsuit, although the ex-governor recently touched on the subject. Charlie Crist upgraded to a larger, two-bedroom apartment in St. Petersburg recently, which he explained was to accommodate visits from his stepdaughters. It will be interesting to see how the courts decide on this child custody matter.”