- Title: GERMANY/USA: BORIS AND BARBARA BECKER DIVORCE CASE IS HEARD AT MIAMI FAMILY COURT
- Date: 4th January 2001
- Summary: MIAMI, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES (JANUARY 4, 2001) (REUTERS) 1. EXTERIOR JUSTICE CENTRE 2. FORMER TENNIS STAR BORIS BECKER ARRIVING AT COURT 3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) BARBARA BECKER'S LAWYER, SAMUEL BURSTYN COMMENTING TO REPORTERS AS HE ARRIVES AT COURT "I just said I think Mr Becker's education will be increasing today" 4. BARBARA BECKER 5. MIAMI SKYLINE
- Embargoed: 19th January 2001 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: MIAMI, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES/ ESSEN, STUTTGART AND MUNICH, GERMANY
- City:
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Sports
- Reuters ID: LVAB5O47203O7T5ALLWP8UDUX14I
- Story Text: After announcing they were separating last December, Boris and Barbara Becker have taken their case to a Miami Dade County judge to decide whether their divorce case will be heard in Germany or the United States. At stake is the custody of the couple's two children and Becker's tennis fortune.
What initially looked like an amicable split has turned into a transatlantic legal battle as the Becker vs Becker case was heard at a Miami family court on Thursday (January 4).
Thursday's hearing in front of Judge Maynard Gross will focus only on the question of whether the custody battle for his children should be heard in public. The question of whether the divorce case should be decided in an American court or under German jurisdiction will not be heard until next Monday.
Barbara Becker, 33, holds both German and U.S.
citizenship and is the daughter of a former U.S. Army medical corps. She filed a petition for support and custody of their two sons in a Miami court in mid-December. Becker, in turn, filed for divorce in Munich.
Tennis star Boris wants the public excluded from the courtroom to protect his two children. His wife Barbara wants the public admitted.
In his testimony to the court on Thursday, Becker said he had hired extra security personnel because of his fears for his family's safety.
"I'm afraid for the lives of my children and for my wife"
he said.
The Beckers are fighting for custody over their two sons Noah Gabriel and Elias Balthasar, as well as the question of alimony.
Although Boris Becker initially said the children would stay with Barbara, he is now understood to want the children to return to Germany, and has cited the International Hague Convention on children which states that children of international marriages which are in dispute should live in the country in which they feel at home.
Barbara has taken the two children to the couple's Miami home, leading her husband to accuse her of kidnapping them. In turn she has accused him of trying to terrorize and abuse her psychologically.
Becker's argument that the children should be returned to Germany would also limit the amount of money his wife can demand from him in maintenance. German law and their pre-nuptial agreement is not recognised in the United States where she could claim half his 100 million U.S. dollar fortune. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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