Jax and Brittany Divorce Settlement: Custody, Support, and Tax Lien

The Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright divorce settlement is partly done and partly not. Custody and support for their son Cruz were finalized on March 10, 2026, in Los Angeles County Superior Court, but the broader financial split — the house, the mortgage tied to Taylor’s old tax debt, and their shared businesses — has not been publicly resolved. Cartwright filed for divorce on August 27, 2024, and as of May 2026 the case is still open.¹

What the Custody Agreement Says

Both parents share joint legal custody of four-year-old Cruz. Cartwright is the primary physical custodian and holds tie-breaking authority on major decisions when the two cannot agree, particularly on medical care.² Taylor has parenting time on Wednesday evenings and every other weekend.³

The agreement also writes in behavioral rules. Neither parent may consume alcohol, marijuana, or illegal drugs while caring for Cruz.² Neither may introduce Cruz to a new romantic partner until that relationship is at least six months old. On holidays, Cartwright has Cruz every Christmas and Mother’s Day; Taylor has him on Father’s Day and on his own birthday; and the two celebrate Cruz’s birthday together.³

Child Support and Spousal Support

Neither parent pays the other child support. Each covers Cruz’s expenses during their own parenting time.² That tracks what both sides asked for from the start. Cartwright’s August 2024 petition requested the court block spousal support for either party,⁴ and Taylor’s amended October 2024 filing asked the same.⁵ Whether a formal spousal support waiver has been signed has not been publicly confirmed. Cartwright said in May 2026 she could not discuss details of the ongoing case.¹

The House and the Million-Dollar Tax Lien

The biggest open financial question is their Valley Village home. The couple bought the five-bedroom house in 2019 for $1.9 million.⁶ It then got tangled in Taylor’s tax history. In July 2022, the IRS filed a Notice of Federal Tax Lien against him for $1,058,345.58 in unpaid federal taxes covering 2014 through 2019.⁷ To clear it, the couple took out a $2,240,000 second mortgage that same year and paid the lien off. That second mortgage is still active and was recently transferred to a new lender, Wilmington Savings Fund Society.⁸

The extra borrowing pushed the monthly payment up. Cartwright has said it rose from about $8,000 to roughly $17,000 or $18,000 because of the loan tied to Taylor’s unpaid taxes.⁹ She alleged Taylor stopped paying the mortgage entirely after she moved out in January 2024 and told her the house “was in foreclosure.”¹⁰ Taylor acknowledged skipping payments for about six months during what he called a “f–k it mentality,” but said he eventually “went and wrote a check for a couple hundred grand and called it a day.”¹¹

Cartwright now lives in the house with Cruz and is paying the mortgage herself. Taylor moved into a separate apartment and has said he cannot cover both the mortgage and his rent.⁷ She wants to keep the property for stability. He has argued it should be sold because it is too big for one parent and a child.¹² In January 2026, Cartwright confirmed Taylor had still not reimbursed her for the payments she absorbed, saying, “It keeps getting pushed back and pushed back.”¹³ No public reporting has confirmed whether the second mortgage or the underlying tax debt is being treated as Taylor’s separate obligation or as community debt.

No Prenup, Shared Businesses, and the Rest of the Assets

The couple did not sign a prenuptial agreement. Cartwright confirmed on a 2019 episode of Watch What Happens Live that they talked about one and declined, saying, “We talked about it. But no.”¹⁴ Without one, their assets fall under California’s community property framework, which generally divides earnings and property acquired during the marriage equally and keeps pre-marriage or post-separation assets separate. Cartwright’s original petition noted the “exact nature of assets and debts” had not yet been determined and reserved property division for later.¹⁵

Most of the money comes from reality TV. Third-party estimates put Taylor’s net worth around $4 million and Cartwright’s at roughly $1 million, though Cartwright has said she currently earns more than Taylor.¹⁵ Shared business interests include the sports bar Jax’s Studio City, which opened in October 2023, and the podcast When Reality Hits. Taylor has claimed the podcast generates about $1 million a year. Cartwright has since taken over as sole host, though she alleged in 2025 that Taylor was slow to sign over the show’s RSS feed.¹⁶ How the bar or the podcast revenue will be divided has not been publicly reported.

Why the Divorce Has Dragged On

The case has been slowed by filing problems and missed paperwork. Taylor filed his first response in late September 2024 without an attorney and checked a box indicating the couple was “never legally married,” while also appearing to grant Cartwright sole custody. His representative later called the entries “errors in filling out forms that are usually done by trained legal professionals.”¹⁷ On October 3, 2024, Taylor hired attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan and refiled, correcting the marital-status error, matching Cartwright’s January 24, 2024 separation date, requesting joint legal custody with visitation, and asking that spousal support be waived.⁵

The divorce was reportedly scheduled to be finalized on October 15, 2025, but was delayed. Cartwright attributed the holdup to Taylor failing to submit required paperwork on time.¹⁸ In January 2026, she said she hoped to be divorced “within a month.”¹³ The custody piece landed in March 2026. In May 2026, Cartwright confirmed on her podcast that the divorce itself is still pending, saying, “I really want it to happen this time.”¹

What’s Still Open

The custody arrangement is settled. The rest is not. Public reporting has not disclosed how the Valley Village house will be divided, who will carry the $2.24 million second mortgage, how the sports bar and podcast will be split, or whether either side will receive spousal support despite both initially asking to waive it. Cartwright has said she expects those issues to be resolved through the remaining divorce proceedings.¹³

1
Bravo TV. Brittany Cartwright and Jax Taylor Divorce Status Update
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Cleveland.com. Vanderpump Rules Alums Reach Custody and Child Support Agreement
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Extra TV. Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright Reach Custody Agreement
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Los Angeles Times. Brittany Cartwright Files for Divorce From Jax Taylor
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E! Online. Jax Taylor Refiles for Divorce From Brittany Cartwright With Lawyer’s Help
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Realtor.com. Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright Divorce Home
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Yahoo Entertainment. Report on Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright Tax Lien
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Reality Blurb. Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright Took Out $2.2 Million Second Mortgage
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Bravo TV. Jax Taylor Defends Not Paying Taxes for Six Years
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People. Brittany Cartwright Says Jax Taylor Told Her House Was in Foreclosure
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Bravo TV. Brittany Cartwright Talks Jax Taylor Finances and Debt
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Yahoo Entertainment. Jax Taylor Wants Brittany Cartwright to Sell Home
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Reality Blurb. Brittany Cartwright Discusses Salary for The Valley and Divorce
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Refinery29. Brittany and Jax Vanderpump Rules No Prenup
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Sportskeeda. Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright Net Worths Explored
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Bravo TV. Brittany Cartwright Finances With Jax Taylor Explained
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Bravo TV. Jax Taylor Clarifies Court Document Filing Errors
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Bravo TV. Are Brittany Cartwright and Jax Taylor Divorced December 2025 Update