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Bristol Palin Broke?! Lawyer Says Court Docs Citing Zero Income Were Filed by Ex Levi Johnston and Are Not Accurate

Docs were filed by Levi's camp in effort to oppose Bristol's motion for past child support, according to an attorney for Sarah Palin's eldest daughter

By Natalie Finn Aug 01, 2014 9:25 PMTags
Bristol Palin, Levi JohnstonFrederick M. Brown/Getty Images

Is Bristol Palin in quite the hole when it comes to her finances?

Court documents filed by Levi Johnston, her ex-boyfriend and father of her son Tripp, put Bristol's earnings for the 2013 income tax period and so far in 2014 at exactly $0, which would indicate that she's running low on funds.

But can that be right?

Well, according to Bristol's legal camp, that's not at all right.

"The documents that were filed with the court that purportedly show Bristol making $0 in 2013 and 2014 tax years were not prepared or filed by Bristol and (at least as to Bristol's income) are not accurate," a Palin family attorney said in an exclusive statement to E! News. 

"The documents, known as 90.3 affidavits, were prepared exclusively by Mr. Johnston to support his opposition to Bristol's motion for past child support. It is common for a parent to put zeroes in the other parent's side of a 90.3 affidavit because each party has an independent obligation to provide only their information to the court."

Calls to Johnston's lawyer for comment have not yet been returned. Radar Online was first to report on the documents, which were filed July 24.

An attorney for Bristol's ex had called her request for back child support, from Oct. 1, 2012, and an at $1,750 a month, "an extraordinarily large motion."

Per Levi's filing, he has made $62,400 this year so far and pulled in $39,067.25 last year.

Bristol's lawyer also tells E! News: "The motion for past due support was necessitated because Mr. Johnston has taken the position that, absent a court order that he recognizes as valid, he does not have an obligation to financially support his child. The documents he filed recently confirm that Mr. Johnston has not voluntarily paid child support since 2010. His more recent 'payments' are only from involuntary [Child Support Services Department] garnishments of his wages and his IRS refund.

AP Photo/Paul Sancya

"Bristol makes a good living, albeit not as much as when she had a more public profile. Because she has greater than 70 percent physical custody, her income is not used in the calculation of child support. The motion for past due support was not filed because Bristol is broke, it was filed because the parties are moving toward resolution. Part of the resolution of any custody case requires that past child support obligations and arrearages must be appropriately calculated."

Here's to resolution!

Tripp, whom Bristol was pregnant with when mom Sarah Palin was the GOP vice-presidential candidate in 2008, is now 5 1/2.

Johnston has also since welcomed daughter Breeze Beretta with wife Sunny Oglesby and they are expecting their second child together.

—Reporting by Katie Rhames