Chriselle Lim and Allen Chen Divorce: Divorce Lawyer Comments

Chriselle Lim and Allen Chen Divorce Filed in Los Angeles

Chriselle Lim and Allen Chen, April 30, 2024 Divorce Update:

Since their divorce in July 26, 2023, former spouses Chriselle Lim and Allen Chen have been living independently while co-parenting their two daughters.

            Allen Chen continues his low profile social media presence. He has a proud dad’s photo page on Instagram, a reflection of his parenting time. Obviously enjoying his time with the kids, his personal Instagram page begins with “Thank you Lord for the Journey. Every day is a blessing.” Chen is affiliated with Brighten Freight, a logistics services company with offices in California.

            Chriselle Lim is active on social media with fashion and Phlur being her main career concerns.

After a two-year hiatus, Lim posted a three-part video series in late September 2023 – “My Divorce Story.” In the video series, Lim talks about her experiences going through divorce with two young children. About her recovering and stabilizing after the divorce. About living with her parents until she acquired a new home for herself and the children. And about life after divorce and avoiding “trauma bonding” when entering into a new romantic relationship. Lim happily reports that she and Chen are “great co-parents” and that life after divorce has been good. See Chriselle Lim’s divorce from Allen Chen after 9 years of marriage explained. Lim is apparently romantically involved. Early in 2024, she and her significant other (a dad with daughters) cautiously introduced the children to each other, taking their “first ever blended family trip together to Hawaii.”

See Mason’s comments below.  For follow up, see Mason’s Media Page.

In the Spring of 2021, Chriselle Lim filed for divorce from husband Allen Chen in Los Angeles, California.

Allen Chen has done a remarkable job of staying out of the limelight and letting it shine only on his soon-to-be former spouse. Little is known about Chen other than he and Lim met in 2008 through mutual friends. The couple married on August 8, 2012. Lim and Chen separated in early 2021. Their two young daughters are living with Lim in her Los Angeles, California, home.

How Chriselle Lim Became Famous

Chriselle Lim (aka Chriselle Lim So-jung, Christie Sojung Lim) is a Korean American born in Texas on April 10, 1985. She lived in Seoul, South Korea, for four years as a child.

Following the fashion world in her mother’s footsteps, Lim studied fashion design and merchandising with a strong business sense. As an Asian entrepreneur who became a YouTube and digital mega-influencer, Lim has a presence on numerous social media sites where she blogs, vlogs, models, and markets products.

Lim is most known for the company she founded in 2011 and its website, The Chriselle Factor. She offers followers tips on fashion, beauty (she has a Korean Beauty page), lifestyle, travel, and motherhood. They can “shop the look” for the designer bobby pins, sunglasses, scarves, handbags, dresses, and shoes that Lim models and then links to Prada, Sax Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom, and others. In March of this year, Lim launched her first fragrance – “Missing Person” by Phlur. According to some reports, Lim’s estimated net worth is between “$1M to $5M.”  Check her out on Instagram.  As of April 13, 2022, she has 1.4 million followers.

Lim v. Chen Family Law Proceedings

Chriselle Lim, Allen Chen, with child.

Lim filed her Petition for Dissolution with Minor Child on April 19, 2021. Chen filed his responsive pleading a month later on May 18. The case of Christie Sojung Lim v. Allen Y. Chen (Case No. 21STFL04406) was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court with family law proceedings held at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in LA. The judges overseeing the case are Dennis F. Hernandez, Lynn H. Scaduto, and Michelle L. Kazadi. The case is still pending.

The Lawyers

Both parties are represented by experienced family lawyers. Lim’s attorney is Marci Robyn Levine, a partner with Summers Levine & Kretzmer, LLP. Levine has been in family law practice since 1990. Chen is represented by attorney Diana Pamela Zitser, a Certified Family Law Specialist and the founder of Zitser Family Law Group. As of original posting, neither attorney has released any public statements regarding the case.  If that changes, we will try and reference it here.

Legal Issues

The court ordered temporary child custody on July 26, 2021 (Stipulation & Order Re: Pendente Lite Custody). And on August 13 entered orders regarding child support, spousal support, and attorney fees. The court commissioner was appointed on October 26.

Although the parties exchanged financial information with a declaration of income and expense, the size of the marital estate and proposed division of assets and debts is not currently known.

Did the couple have a valid prenuptial agreement? If we assume they did not, then property settlement negotiations may involve splitting substantial marital assets. We know Lim launched her website in 2011 and was married the following year. Husband Chen was with Lim through the early years of her business enterprises and likely has community property rights in his wife’s entrepreneurial successes.

At this time, we do not know which party requested spousal support. Maybe they both did.

Mason’s Commentary

In most celebrity divorces, one party is famous, the other is not.  In the world of Internet personalities and influencers, public opinion is everything.  Even a trend of being “unfollowed,” whether short term or long term, can be financially devastating. (See Johnny Depp v Amber Heard Defamation Trial on YouTube). So, clearly the celebrity has a sincere interest in keeping the dirt under the rug.

What about the non-celebrity in the divorce?  Most of the time, the non-celebrity needs to keep his or her own nose clean as well, especially when they have a child together. Here’s why:

Property Division & Alimony: The non-celebrity will likely try and argue the name, image, and likeness has marital value subject to division by the court.  The greater the value, the greater the settlement.  The same with business interests and ownership.  If the non-celebrity leaks negative facts, that can be used against him or her in court.  A lower value of the celebrity’s image and future earning capacity can be very expensive to the non-celebrity spouse.

Child Support: Almost all states take into consideration income from both parents.  The non-celebrity will almost always benefit from the celebrity parent having greater income.

Custody: If there are negative public comments made by either parent against the other, almost all judges will blame the parent making the accusation if proof is non-existent. “He said, she said” claims will be looked at very carefully in terms of proving which parent is more likely to foster and encourage a meaningful relationship.  On the other hand, if there are claims of domestic violence and one party made a complaint to the police and has photos and witnesses, that will be a different story.  In general, most parents want their custody arrangements negotiated between themselves and not ruled upon by a court.  That way, both parents maintain a much greater degree of control over the situation compared to a judge having to make a ruling.

For additional comment, view Miles Mason, Sr.’s Media Page.

 

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