This week on Legally Us, Rachael Bennett, a certified family law specialist and senior attorney at Sullivan Law & Associates, breaks down Dorit Kemsley and Paul “PK” Kemsley’s contentious divorce.
In court documents obtained by Us on July 27, Dorit, 50, alleged that PK, 58, is trying to “egregiously misuse Family Code 2108” in an attempt to “side-step trial” and continue to allegedly forgo making their mortgage payments, claiming his alleged attempts would render both her and their shared children without a home. She also claimed that PK promised to pay their family’s bills after he moved out of their shared home in 2024 in lieu of child support.
PK then filed new court documents on July 30 denying Dorit’s recent motion and alleged that Dorit hasn’t made any payment for the mortgages, only covering certain costs for utilities and staff payroll. PK also claimed that Dorit’s expenses, totaling $900,000 for wardrobe, are not required in her Real Housewives of Beverly Hills contract.
Dorit denied spending the amount, explaining that many of the designer items were returned. However, she disclosed in a court declaration that she spent approximately $217,000 on her wardrobe for season 15.
“If PK can provide the court with a copy of the Real Housewives contract to show that there’s nothing in there requiring her to purchase specific clothing items or maintain a high-end luxury look, then he may be able to convince a judge that she is an excessive spender and that she shouldn’t be trusted to maintain the house,” Bennett tells Us. “For Dorit, her strongest claim is that the parties had a pre-existing agreement that PK would pay the mortgage instead of paying her under like a formal child support order, and if she can prove that, it takes the blame off of her for the foreclosure, and I think it’ll give the court a much more common sense explanation as to why the mortgage is so behind.”
She adds, “I would expect her to be able to show emails or texts reflecting their agreement, as well as proof that PK initially followed the agreement before the mortgage fell behind. It’s a battle of the evidence at this point.”
PK has expressed his desire to sell the home, arguing that an immediate, court-ordered sale of the property is necessary to preserve the remaining equity in the home. Dorit asked the judge to deny his request.
“The court can absolutely force the sale of a family home while a divorce is still pending, but the judge has to have a really good reason to do it,” Bennett explains. “The most typical situation is if there’s some kind of a financial loss or risk of a financial loss. So where a house is in foreclosure and neither party is either willing or able to catch up the mortgage payments and keep it current, the court will step in and order the house be sold. It’s basically a protective mechanism to make sure that the couple’s assets don’t go to waste during the divorce process.”
PK and Dorit have been locked in a contentious divorce battle since April 2025, when Dorit filed to end their 10-year marriage. In the filing, she cited irreconcilable differences and requested sole legal and physical custody of their two children, son Jagger, 12, and daughter Phoenix, 9.
