Dwyane Wade’s divorce settlement with Siohvaughn Funches-Wade was finalized in July 2013 in Cook County Circuit Court and gave Funches-Wade a $5 million lump sum, the couple’s South Holland, Illinois mansion, and four vehicles, in return for signing a mutual non-disparagement clause that also protected Wade’s family and his then-girlfriend Gabrielle Union. The deal closed a six-year proceeding that had already resolved custody in Wade’s favor.
What the Settlement Included
Wade submitted the financial proposal on July 16, 2013. The terms: $5 million paid in a lump sum, the family’s former mansion in South Holland, and four cars. The non-disparagement provision ran both ways and extended to Wade’s family members and to Gabrielle Union, barring public negative remarks about any of them.
Before the lump-sum deal, Wade had been paying Funches-Wade more than $25,000 a month in support and covering her mortgage, home maintenance, security, insurance, taxes, and attorney fees. A temporary arrangement added $10,000 a month for travel and living expenses. The court weighed the settlement against Wade’s basketball earnings, including a six-year, $107 million extension he had signed with the Miami Heat, and Funches-Wade’s limited income, and treated the offer as equitable.
How the Case Reached a Settlement
Wade and Funches married in 2002 as he was entering the NBA. They had two children, Zaire and Zaya (identified in earlier filings as Zion). Wade met Gabrielle Union in February 2007 and filed for divorce later that year in Cook County. The divorce itself was granted in 2010, but the financial split stayed open for another three years while custody and money were fought out separately.
Custody Was Already Decided
The financial settlement arrived after the custody fight had ended. The custody trial before Judge Fe Fernandez in Cook County (case 07-D-11714) ran 38 days, one of the longest in the county’s history. In March 2011, Judge Fernandez issued a 102-page ruling giving Wade sole custody of both children, criticizing Funches-Wade for attempting to “alienate the children from their father,” and allowing Wade to move the children from Illinois to Florida. An Illinois appellate court denied Funches-Wade’s appeal in December 2011.
On June 16, 2012, Funches-Wade was arrested after allegedly withholding the children during a scheduled exchange, causing them to miss a Father’s Day flight to Miami. She was charged with two counts of attempted child abduction, two counts of unlawful visitation interference, and resisting arrest, and posted a $10,000 bond. At an emergency hearing ten days later she invoked the Fifth Amendment, and the judge ordered visitation moved to Florida. The abduction and visitation-interference charges were later dropped; an obstruction charge was still pending in mid-2013.
Why Funches-Wade Resisted Signing
Funches-Wade publicly rejected the settlement’s terms. “Dwyane Wade is offering to pay only some of what he owes me if I sign an agreement never again to discuss what happened in our marriage or with our children,” she said. “I refuse.” She said she needed $300,000 a year in spousal support and claimed she had never received her share of Wade’s endorsement income.
On July 19, 2013, three days before the settlement was finalized, she staged a protest outside Chicago’s Daley Center, sitting on a mat on the sidewalk with a cardboard sign reading, “NBA Miami Heat star, mother of his children on the streets.” She told reporters she was protesting a lawsuit she had filed and then voluntarily dropped earlier that month, a $2 million action alleging Wade had violated a 2008 agreement requiring endorsement income to be deposited into a joint account. She withdrew the suit on July 11, 2013, without stating a reason.
Wade’s attorney, James Pritikin, called the demonstration an “erratic public display” that made “a mockery of homelessness,” citing the support Wade was already paying.
The Judge’s Ruling
On July 22, 2013, Cook County Circuit Judge John Thomas Carr declared the settlement valid and enforceable. Funches-Wade’s attorney, Brian Hurst, argued she had never fully agreed to every provision, especially the non-disparagement clause. Judge Carr rejected that position, found both parties had reached an agreement, and closed the six-year proceeding. Outside court, Funches-Wade told reporters, “My voice isn’t for sale, my story isn’t for sale, no thank you.”
What Happened After the Settlement
The Malpractice Suit Against Her Own Lawyer
Funches-Wade sued Brian Hurst for legal malpractice, alleging he had “botched” negotiations by opening talks with Wade’s team without her knowledge and failing to hold to agreed terms. She claimed she should have received at least $10 million rather than roughly $5 million-plus. A judge initially dismissed the case but allowed a refiling. In April 2017, Cook County Judge Martin Agran denied her request to seal the malpractice proceedings, ruling she could not litigate the matter “behind closed doors.”
The 2016 Book
In June 2016, Funches-Wade published a 295-page autobiography, “The True Story for God’s Glory,” repeating allegations she had made in court, including that Wade had physically abused her and been unfaithful. The book never names Wade, referring to him only as her husband or the father of her children, a phrasing that appeared to work around the 2013 non-disparagement clause. Wade did not publicly respond, and no reports indicate he moved to enforce the clause.
The 2022 Dispute Over Zaya
The old custody order and the settlement’s tensions returned in 2022. In August 2022, Wade petitioned Los Angeles County Superior Court to change the name and gender marker on Zaya’s birth certificate. Zaya, then 15, had identified publicly as female since age 12.
On October 31, 2022, Funches-Wade objected, arguing that the 2011 custody agreement required both parents to “meet and confer about all major decisions” and to consult a parenting coordinator on unresolved disputes. She also alleged Wade was “positioned to profit,” claiming he had told her in an April 2022 meeting that he “intended to make our child very famous due to the name and gender issue,” and referencing endorsement contracts with companies including Disney. She asked the court to deny the petition until Zaya turned 18.
Wade’s team responded on November 28, 2022, calling the allegations “libelous” and “nonsensical” and pointing to the 2011 order granting him “sole care, custody and control.” Wade said publicly that “no one in our house would ever force Zaya or any of our children to do anything against their will.” On February 24, 2023, a Los Angeles judge granted the petition, recognizing the name Zaya Malachi Airamis Wade and ordering the sex markers on her legal documents updated to match her gender identity.