In Touch Weekly released a scathing story about Teen Mom 2 star Leah Calvert this morning. The magazine claims that Leah has managed to drain $50,000 from a trust fund that was set aside for her daughter Ali Simms.
Ali, who suffers from a rare form of muscular dystrophy, was to use the money in the account once she became an adult, but, according to the magazine, there is nothing left.
“The account was totally drained,” a source reportedly told In Touch. “The money is supposed to go to college tuition, or in Ali’s case, medical needs. But Leah took all of it.”
The Ashley has reached out to Leah’s management team for comment but has not yet heard back. In the meantime, The Ashley reached out to several sources familiar with the show’s financial situation to see if Leah could, indeed, take money that was allocated to Ali for her appearances on ‘Teen Mom 2.’
(Again, the In Touch article did not specify that Ali’s trust fund was indeed the one that contains her MTV money; however, it is most likely that one. If the money was from another venture, what follows may not apply.)
As The Ashley reported in the first version of her book, Teen Mom Confidential, each child that appears on ‘Teen Mom 2’ is paid separately from his or her parents. That means that Ali, as well as her sister Aleeah and Addi, all have an account with the money they’ve earned for each season they’ve appeared on the show.
MTV is not required to set up any type of trust fund for the ‘Teen Mom 2’ kids, as reality TV is not covered under Coogan Laws or any other act, but they have done that anyway. (A Coogan account requires the parents of a child actor to set aside at least 15% of their child’s entertainment earnings into an account for the child when he or she turns 18. Unfortunately, however, kids on reality TV shows are not considered “actors,” therefore the Coogan Laws do not apply. Also, those laws only apply in certain states; Leah’s home state of West Virginia is not one of them.)
Multiple show sources confirmed to The Ashley that most of the girls on ‘Teen Mom 2’ or other ‘Teen Mom’ shows have UTMA accounts set up for their kid(s).
However, MTV (or the government) does not prevent the parent (or whoever is set as the “trustee” of the account until the child turns 18) from withdrawing money, provided it is for “the benefit of the child.”
According to finaid.org, a site that helps students better understand their finances and financial aid:
Nothing prevents the custodian from spending the money for the benefit of the child, so long as the expenses aren’t “parental obligations” or otherwise benefit the custodian. Parental obligations are expenses a parent is normally expected to provide for his or her child, such as food, clothing, medical care and shelter. But if your child wants a computer or to go to summer camp, it is usually acceptable to spend the child’s money on those expenses. Likewise, you can spend the child’s money for the child’s college education.
Another ‘Teen Mom’ source tells The Ashley that not all of the girls’ accounts for their kids are the same, due to them all living in different states. Since Leah lives in West Virginia, and has since the beginning of the show, it is likely the accounts for the girls are UTMA accounts. So, while The Ashley is definitely not confirming that Leah took any money, she is confirming that it would be possible for her to do so, if she was named as the trustee of Ali’s UTMA account.
Anyway, according to the magazine, Leah’s ex (and Ali’s father) Corey Simms is aware of the alleged situation.
“He’s furious that Ali’s future has been wiped away, and he’s seeing what he can do to get the money back,” the source claimed.
Corey and Leah recently settled their custody dispute over their twin girls in court. (Corey reportedly got an extra day with the girls.) Leah later ranted on Facebook about the custody hearing, as well as Corey’s marriage to his current wife, Miranda. (Click here to read all about that!)
After the original In Touch Weekly story broke, Leah took to her Twitter on Tuesday afternoon to tell her side of the story.
“I can’t believe some of these pathetic individuals that hide behind the name of ‘a source.’ My girls still have their money,” Leah wrote. “It’s just not at the bank you’re looking at #crazy” (The Ashley cleaned up the grammatical errors, of course.)
Again, The Ashley has reached out to Leah’s manager for comment on this story, but has not yet heard back. The Ashley will update this story if more information becomes available.
Here’s the obvious disclaimer: The Ashley is not a lawyer, nor does she have any legal training aside from the completion of many media law classes. The information in this report is solely from inside info given to The Ashley from her show sources, as well as media law books.
(Photo: MTV)
17 Responses
Leah is an idiot. She continually trashes Corey in the media.. And he has kept his mouth shut. How much do you think they can take before they start telling ALL of her secrets? She brings on all of her misery. She has a problem with money, so hopefully with this exposure, Corey can at least be in charge of the kids’ money. It is sad that is all they have saved, considering the 1/2 million she and Jeremy made in one year alone.
The baby Addie looks identical to Leahs stepdad. Just sayin
You should know by now you can’t believe everything you read. Until there is proof give this girl a break.
What a LOW down thing to do!
If this is true it’s really upsetting. My dad cleaned out my savings and maxed out my sister’s credit card to the point where she was $30,000 in debt and had to file for bankruptcy. So I can say as an adult for something like this to happen is AWFUL. I don’t understand how some people can be this selfish. I hope it’s not true but if it is I hope something changes and Corey can be in charge of the girls’ finances.
Some interesting statements and questions from twitter
why was Ali’s money moved from the bank but the other girls’ left in that bank&why was it moved w/o others w/access being told?
…….
The only person who could legally “look for it” is Corey. So why would you hide the money? Hmm The only person besides Corey, would be Jeremy. He would only be looking because assets must be listed in a divorce. If that’s the case you just admitted to hiding assets on twitter… You cannot seriously be this stupid.
When she says they still have the money, you’re just looking at the wrong bank, I have to wonder if the other daughters money is still “in that bank”. And if it is, why would she move just one kids money. Why hasn’t anyone looked into that? Also, it seems like when she says something like that, she’s just buying time to get things to look good for her. I have a feeling she spent the money and now that it’s out in the open, she’s trying to cover her tracks or get the money back before people follow the paper trail. Where did she get the money to start her business by the way?
Maybe she needed the money for her business. You know, mary kay. And maybe she considers that parental obligation. Lol
Maybe she used the money to buy Ali’s wellchar?
The insurance company covered the cost of the wheelchair. And even if they didn’t, the wheelchair cost $20 thousand, so what’s her excuse for the other 30 grand?
That money went right up her nose. She’s trash.
A family friend has a daughter who has spina biffia (sp). He is a nurse and his wife is a teacher. They have managed to get a wheelchair by saving the money. With mtv and jerms job, certainly they could put some back while using the loaner.
A poster on another website made a valid point. She said that some people take the interest from a savings account instead of letting it build up. It is possible that the 50,000 is still in the bank but where is the interest?
I don’t know if these allegations are true or not. If they are true, I am just disgusted with her. This is way worse than anything she has done in the past. Whether what she did was illegal or not, you don’t take money from a child that is medically disabled. You don’t do it. I can’t even imagine how much Corey must be repulsed by her.