Dina Eastwood (formerly Dina Ruiz, 48) recently made her separation from
Clint Eastwood (83) legal, filing papers in Monterey County Superior Court.
Clint and Dina were married for 17 years, but have been living separately
for some time. Rumour has it that Dina left Clint for her high school
boyfriend, Scott Fisher. Fisher is a university assistant basketball coach.
Now, before you start feeling bad for Clint, here’s what you need to
know: Just two days after Dina confirmed her separation from Clint, Clint
was photographed with his new girlfriend, Erica Tomlinson-Fisher, 42.
But here’s where this story gets even juicier: Until 2012, Erica Tomlinson-Fisher
was married to Scott Fisher! As the story goes, after Scott and Erica
divorced, Erica became suspicious that Scott and Dina were having a fling.
“Erica called Clint’s office last February to discuss her suspicions
— then he fell for her!”, says an unnamed source. Given the
subject matter, there may be a movie here, or at least a TV special.
Clint and Dina have one child together, Morgan, who is 16-years-old. Clint
was previously married to Maggie Johnson, with whom he has two children,
Alison and Kyle. Clint is dad to five other kids from prior relationships.
The legal issues in this matter will involve property, custody, and
spousal support. Division of property will be decided according to Clint and Dina’s
prenuptial agreement. Dina is asking for physical custody and joint legal
custody of Morgan, their 16-year-old daughter and is seeking spousal support.
In Ontario, according to s. 24 of the
Children’s Law Reform Act (CLRA), custody and access are determined based solely on the best interest
of the child. Moreover, Ontario courts are authorized to take into consideration
the views and preferences of the child in question (s. 64
CLRA). However, as in this instance, where a child is 16 years or older, the
child may withdraw from the care or custody of his or her parents.
As a result, while the parties may continue to fight over the physical
custody of a child 16 years or older for the purpose of determining support
(both child and spousal), a court will rarely make an order relating to
the legal custody of a child who is over the age of 16. So while Dina
may attempt to obtain physical custody of Morgan as a means to receiving
higher support payments, Morgan will most likely be able to choose where
she will primarily reside.