Bren's children seeking millions

The teenage children of billionaire Orange County land developer Donald L. Bren will return to court Jan. 3 to try to force their father to pay child support commensurate with his wealth.

Bren, chairman of the Irvine Co. and one of the country's richest businessmen, said he is willing to pay whatever a judge deems appropriate, but has been fighting efforts to force him to disclose details about his assets and finances.

The dispute, according legal experts, has potential implications for the way courts determine child support and is the latest in a series of legal battles in which California's rich and famous have fought to keep their financial holdings private.

Last year, for example, supermarket billionaire Ronald Burkle tried repeatedly to keep his personal finances secret in a bitter divorce, leading to a ruling that overturned a state law allowing litigants to seal court records.

According to court papers, Bren had two children with Jennifer McKay Gold, whom he never married. For years, the couple had an out-of-court agreement on the amount of financial support the billionaire would pay for the children. Ultimately, Gold and the children went to court, arguing that Bren wasn't paying enough. The dispute sparked a series of lawsuits and legal appeals.

The current litigation centers largely on a complex formula that judges typically use to fashion support orders. To craft those orders, judges require detailed financial information on a parent's ability to pay, as well as information on the amount of time each parent spends with the child. Judges can change the support amount suggested under the formula depending on the unique circumstances of a case, experts said.

Under state law, child support is largely based on the parents' income, so the child can share in the same standard of living as the wealthier parent. There is no upper limit on the amount of support that can be ordered. The average child support order in Los Angeles County is $345 per month, said Al Reyes of the county Child Support Services Department.

Grace Ganz Blumberg, a professor at the UCLA School of Law who helped create the child support formula, said the system was set up for the average litigant, not the very rich.