Melissa Etheridge and Tammy Lynn Michaels End Bitter Settlement

Etheridge and Michaels in happier days. Photo: Project M·A·R·C

$23,000 a month isn’t enough to fill the Christmas stockings of former L Word actress Tammy Michaels and American rock singer-songwriter Melissa Etheridge’s twin children, apparently.

The couple, who had a commitment ceremony in 2003 and separated in 2010, have finally agreed on a domestic partnership settlement. According to TMZ, last May it was decided Etheridge was to pay Michaels $13,000 a month in spousal support and $10,000 a month in child support. Michaels attempted to throw the settlement out, however last week the judge ruled the settlement is valid and binding.

Michaels claimed that though she was receiving the $23,000 each month, she was barely scraping by. She said she had grown “accustomed to living an extravagant lifestyle during their long-term relationship [and] it was not enough to live on,” according to Daily Mail Online.

The settlement argument resurfaced at Christmas when Michaels said the six-year-old twins would have “empty stockings” because she hadn’t received Etheridge’s payments.

We can only hope Michaels was able to salvage something from the $23,000 a month this year for the twins’ stockings. There’s no reason for them to suffer through their moms’ bitter separation.