Kate Gosselin has confirmed that her estranged husband Jon Gosselin has almost completely wiped out their joint bank account, leaving her unable to pay bills.
"Jon Gosselin took $230,000 of the $231,000 that we have liquid. I have a stack of bills in my purse I can't drop in the mail," Kate Gosselin told Today anchor Meredith Viera during a Monday interview."Will you demand that that money be redeposited in the account?" asked Viera.
"I have to in order to keep my kids where they live and put food on their table," the Jon & Kate Gosselin Plus 8 star responded as she held back tears.
"I need that money to provide for them. You have to understand my position here. We were in a position after our sextuplets were born that we could not pay our bills. We did the show to provide a better life for them. Never in my life did I think I would be back in the same position, worried about providing for them."
Kate Gosselin said concerns about the couple's liquid assets began almost immediately when they filed for divorce in June and announced their separation after 10 years of marriage. According to Kate Gosselin, an arbitrator ruled neither could remove funds from the account without the other's consent after Jon apparently decided to do just that.
"Jon Gosselin had done it a few days before I filed for divorce. Jon Gosselin didn't empty it completely, but it was enough that I was afraid," said Kate Gosselin. "In fact, at some point up until that point I had taken $100,000 and put it aside safely so that I could buy my kids food if this occurred. I was afraid. Literally, he was buying erratic purchases -- randomly purchasing things."
Kate Gosselin added she removed the money at the "suggestion" of her lawyer, however she was subsequently told by an arbitrator she "needed to put it back," which she claims she did.
"The last thing I wanted was to do [Jon & Kate Plus 8] and not be able to pay my bills. So I put money aside -- willingly brought it forward and split it with him when we had our meeting," explained Kate. "So he took $50,000 and did whatever with it and I paid bills with my $50,000. Once the court arbitrator stepped in, I felt like the money, I had to put it back. I didn't feel like it would be safe to be honest."
Jon Gosselin's legal team issued a statement to The Insider -- which was read by Viera during Kate Gosselin's Today appearance -- in which it disputed Sunday's reports.
"[Jon] has not withdrawn any money for his own remuneration with the exception of the past several months wherein he believes he only withdrew approximately $170,000," reads the statement. "It is not unlikely when the arbitrator or court receive a full accounting of all the proceeds that Jon will be awarded substantial additional funds."
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