Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Refusal To Sign A Prenuptial Agreement Draws The Wrath Of Wealthy Family Behind Orkin Pest Control


Why did Birmingham resident Sherry Carroll Rollins become the victim of a monstrous cheat job in an Alabama divorce case?

Several factors probably were involved, but this appears to be No. 1 on the list: Ms. Rollins refused a last-minute effort to force her into a prenuptial agreement; so when she tried to divorce a member of the powerful clan behind Orkin Pest Control, the family made her pay dearly.

Sherry and Ted Rollins were married for roughly 10 years before she filed for divorce in Greenville, South Carolina, where they lived at the time. Ms. Rollins cited infidelity as one of her grounds for divorce, and the case was litigated in Greenville for three years; multiple court documents show that jurisdiction firmly was established in South Carolina.

A judge there found that Ted Rollins was president of a real-estate development firm called St. James Capital, regularly flew in private jet craft, and belonged to one of the wealthiest families in the country. A judge also found Ted Rollins in contempt of court for failure to pay child support, and a bench warrant for his arrest was in place for more than two years.

In other words, the legal landscape in South Carolina did not look so favorable for Ted Rollins. But those with plenty of money apparently can change the scenery in a hurry.

How did Ted Rollins do it? First, he violated a court order to maintain mortgage and insurance payments on the marital residence in Greenville. That caused Sherry Rollins and the couple's two daughters to be kicked out of the house, and they fled to Alabama, where Ms. Rollins had relatives.

Ted Rollins then proceeded to sue for divorce in Alabama, even though black-letter law shows that cannot be done when jurisdiction is established in another state. The Birmingham metro area, however, proved to be a friendly location for Ted Rollins' legal interests.

Bradley Arant, his corporate law firm, has headquarters here. Rollins' current business enterprise, Campus Crest Communities, has sites at four Alabama universities. And a Shelby County judge named D. Al Crowson was willing to bend the law beyond recognition in order to give Mr. Rollins a spectacularly favorable--and unlawful--result.

The curious reader might ask, "Why would Ted Rollins go to all of that trouble? Why not make his wife a reasonable settlement offer and get it over with?"

Here is the answer: Our research indicates that Ted Rollins is the only member of his mega-wealthy family, male or female, to get married without a prenuptial agreement. That fact, plus Ted Rollins' misconduct during the course of the marriage--which goes beyond infidelity to documented abuse of Ms. Rollins' son from a previous marriage--means a member of the family behind Orkin Pest Control stood to get taken to the proverbial cleaners in divorce court.

It's not that the Rollins clan didn't try to force a prenup down Sherry Rollins' throat. But they did it under extraordinary circumstances, and on such outrageous terms, that she refused to sign it.

Ted Rollins violated family protocol by going ahead with the wedding anyway. Why would he do that? Evidence suggests he had extremely dark motives.

Evidence also shows that the Rollins family abuses those who would dare marry into their exalted midst. The story of Sherry Rollins, and the prenuptial agreement she refused to sign, is a prime example.


(To be continued)

21 comments:

Barb said...

This shines a whole new light on the Rollins story. Look forward to learning more about the Orkin version of a prenup.

Anonymous said...

Don't people put nutty stuff in prenups, like weight closes, etc.? Would be neat to see some of the craziest things ever put into prenups.

Spasmoda said...

Let me guess, they tried to get her to sign this the night before the wedding?

legalschnauzer said...

Spas:

You are getting warm.

Anonymous said...

Dark motives? Might that be pertaining to interest in her son?

legalschnauzer said...

Anon at 10:59--

You are getting warm, too.

Anonymous said...

How old was the son when they were married?

Anonymous said...

LS-Please keep digging-you are getting to it! And with the help of your many followers-surely there are those among us who can get more details of the various issues surrounding this very interesting "Family"!

legalschnauzer said...

Anon at 11:45--

The son was 10 when Sherry and Ted Rollins met. They lived together for a while in Charlottesville, VA, before getting married, so I believe the son was 12 when the marriage officially began. Another son of Ms. Rollins' was 4-5 years older than that.

Anonymous said...

I wonder if Ms. Rollins still has a copy of the prenup. Could she perhaps provide a copy to you, LS? If so, that would be most educational for your readers.

Sharon said...

I agree with 3:07. Fortunately, I've never seen a prenup. If I had, I would have torn it up and left it in pieces at my "beloved's" feet. I would like to see the Rollins prenup and a copy of a normal prenup, to compare and contrast..

Anonymous said...

This is Anon at 10:25. I meant "weight clauses." Sorry for the goof.

Anonymous said...

You people believe anything! LS you really need to consider that your source is the bitter wife ok? I mean really what do you hope to accomplish? You are like a gossip columnist, not a reporter. Why not write about something that makes a difference in this world. Nobody cares about this crap!

legalschnauzer said...

Anon at 9:14--

Are you aware that divorce cases are conducted in courts--and our taxpayer dollars support those courts? Mine do, and if you pay taxes, yours do. How those courts operate is my business and the business of my readers. If you don't happen to care about "this crap," I suggest you spend your time at other Web sites.

BTW, my source on most of my reports about Rollins v. Rollins is public records. Everything "the bitter wife" has told me has been supported by public records or other sources.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous Nov. 15 9:14....."bitter wife", I wonder what the adjective to describe you would be if you were thrown out of your home with small children holding your hand with their scared faces and move numerous times without money; live on food stamps from time to time, take jobs that pay minimum wage and try to raise a family of three on it and ultimately spend yours and your childrens time in court in two states using the only money you could borrow to pay for lousy lawyers who took it and watch while the judge who is a paid servant of the taxpayer who is supposed to dole out justice for all takes a payoff for himself and takes an early 6 year retirement???????
Bitter wife, indeed, what would you be called if it happened to you???? Just betting you are white, male, and self employed......Why don't you just take some of your precious time and expand a little more on the comment section of LS and let us all know how a mental giant like yourself would handle this type of abuse???? Why don't you have anything better to do than to read someone's blog and then tell the writer to stop writing and wasting his time?
What about your precious time? Are you going to share some more PEARLS OF WISDOM with the lowly readers at Legal Schnauzer???? P.S. I know the "bitter wife"; if I were her I would be the KILLER wife and the ex husband would be 6 feet under right now along with the lawyers involved and the Judge too.

Anonymous said...

to Anonymous who throws out words like "this is crap, why don't you write about something that makes a difference in this world?" Do childen mean anything to you; does injustice mean anything to you? I am curious, what does mean something to you? What makes a difference in this world to you? A Romney win perhaps? More money for the rich elites like Mr. Rollins? More money for yourself perhaps? Are those the real meaningful things in this world? How would you handle the abuse that Mrs. Rollins and her daughters have sustained? Can you even put yourself in her shoes? No, I just bet you can't because something , some little trickle down tidbit from the rich Rollins clan is going to land on your head any minute and probably often does. A job perhaps, a home, some money, some fame, sex? What are the Rollins handing your way to make you make such hateful statements toward a blogger who does not force you to read his blog....I rest my case, readers, ladies and gentlemen of the blog, meet yet another slave to the rollins regime. Bought and Paid For.......enough that small children don't even matter.......

Truthseeker said...

I heard that Mrs. Rollins has started a non-profit for children of divorce who are abused by parents. Seems that a lot of wealthy individuals in the birmingham area are flocking to her cause and she is making speeches to groups all over Alabama about injustice, what was done to her and her children and making a difference in wives and childrens lives all over Alabama. We wish her well.

legalschnauzer said...

Truthseeker:

I hope you are right; it would be a noble cause. If such a thing is happening, I'm not aware of it. Also not aware of wealthy individuals flocking to Ms. Rollins cause in Birmingham.

Are you thinking of one of the Rollinses in Atlanta?

Anonymous said...

Could not have said it better myself!

Anonymous said...

Thats not at all true! She spends her days on the computer looking up the Rollins Family! Hahaha children's fund , oh gosh that's funny.

legalschnauzer said...

Anon at 11:33--

I invite you to contact me via private e-mail at rshuler3156@gmail.com to share any solid information that you have.

Otherwise, your anonymous attacks on someone, without facts, will no longer be published.