Cristina Hall and Josh Hall’s divorce quickly turned contentious after the HGTV star accused her ex-husband of transferring $35,000 of her money into his personal bank account.
According to court documents obtained by ET, the Turn or Fail star, 41, claims that “Josh managed to divert over $35,000 of my separate property rental income into his account.” She further claims, “I am asking that Josh account for the funds taken and return them to me, as these funds are specifically used to pay off any loans, liabilities, property taxes, insurance, and maintenance on these rental properties.”
ET has reached out to Josh for comment and he denies any wrongdoing.
Christina, who says she owns rental properties in Franklin, Tennessee, and Nashville, claims Josh contacted her professional property manager via text message on July 8 — the day after they filed for divorce — and stated, “Hello. For the June payments, can we send them to a different account when the time comes? Thanks.” Christina, who attached a screenshot of the alleged text as evidence in her lawsuit, further claimed she learned of it on July 21.
As for Josh’s “Can we please?” line, Christina claims it’s inaccurate because she “did not have any personal contact with Josh on July 8, 2024” and “I would not have asked him to wire my money to him the day after I told him we were getting divorced.”
She claims the property manager complied with the request “believing I had authorized the change of accounts and requested account details, and Josh provided his own Wells Fargo Bank account.”
In her court documents, filed in Orange County Superior Court in California, Christina is asking a judge to order Josh to return the money. She is also asking for exclusive use of the Newport Beach, California, residence. She acknowledges in the documents that the home is jointly titled in both of their names, but claims that all of the funds used to purchase the property came from the sale of a home in nearby Dana Point that she claims she owns.
But the estranged couple’s fight over money and the marital home is just the beginning of what appears to be a divorce with all the makings of a heated exchange. In her court papers, Christina claims that Josh’s attorney sent her a letter demanding that she preserve electronic evidence without it being automatically erased.
“(Then) I disconnected (the) cameras so that the system would not automatically overwrite the hard drive,” she stated in court documents. “Every time Josh came home, he would reconnect the cameras, which would allow him to keep a close eye on me and my children. I object to him having this access to my home.”
Christina also took a preemptive step when it came to paying child support to Josh, 43.
“I understand that at some point this court may require me to pay some child support to Josh and reasonable attorney fees to his attorney,” she stated. “However, I believe that this is a straightforward case with straightforward accounting in a short period of time, any fees and costs should be minimal.”
She added: “Like all working mothers, my life revolves around my children and my work. I understand that Josh has his own income and therefore should not be in need of any child support from me. He has sufficient assets of his own to pay his own attorney’s fees and costs. Frankly, I am shocked and concerned that he diverted over $35,000 of my separate property money into his separate account on July 8, 2024. The fact that this is the same date he now claims is our date of separation, even though it is actually July 7, 2024, makes it clear why he chose the later day.”
Christina says this alleged ordeal makes her wonder “what else I don’t know about his financial situation and why I’m having a full accounting audit done for the entire duration of our marriage.”
Christina and Josh filed for divorce earlier this month after nearly three years of marriage. They secretly married in April 2022. Later that year, in September, they celebrated their union with a second ceremony in Hawaii, with Christina’s children in attendance. Christina shares daughter Taylor, 13, and son Brayden, 8, with ex-husband Tarek El Moussa, and son Hudson, 4, with Ant Anstead.
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