With Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte and his wife Kayla Reid locked in an ugly divorce battle, it can be revealed that they owe nearly $270,000 in various debts – including some $100,000 to the IRS.
In March, Kayla – a former Playboy playmate – filed for divorce against Lochte in Florida, citing that their marriage is ‘irretrievably broken,’ according to court documents obtained by the Daily Mail.
In Lochte’s response, filed in April, he fired back with multiple ‘denials’ against his wife’s petition, mainly regarding the care and custody of their children – Caiden Zane, seven, Liv Rae, five, and Georgia June, one.
According to his response filing, he is denying that the children are ‘primarily’ in the present care of Kayla and that she should have ‘sole parental responsibility’.
In her petition, Kayla requested that the court enter a parenting plan ‘awarding her majority time-sharing’ with their kids since she argues, ‘equal time-sharing would be detrimental to the children.’
Lochte agrees that the court should determine their respective obligations for child support, but denies Kayla’s argument that she has ‘inadequate’ income to provide for their children.
Ryan Lochte’s wife Kayla Reid has filed for divorce after seven years of marriage
Kayla, seen in 2016 at Playboy Midsummer Night’s Dream party, was previously a Playboy Playmate
In the petition for divorce, Kayla adds that she needs financial assistance to pay for education and retraining to help improve her skills so that she would be in a better financial situation.
It appears Lochte is also requesting the marital home since he is denying that Kayla ‘needs the exclusive use’ of their house, in Gainesville, Florida, for herself and their children.
According to real estate records obtained by the Daily Mail, Lochte moved out of the home – which they purchased for nearly $548,000 in 2021 – in March and is now renting a four-bedroom, three-bathroom house in Newberry, Florida, for $3,000 per month.
The former Olympic swimmer is also not in agreement that his wife should be awarded full interests in her assets that are held in a trust by Lochte.
Plus, he seems blindsided by ‘terms of an agreement’ that were made between his wife and their law firm – Scruggs, Carmichael & Wershow, P.A. – since she said that ‘he should be required to pay’ her attorneys fees if he ‘engages in frivolous and/or vexatious litigation.’
As to why money seems to be proving such a central problem for the couple, you perhaps need to look no further than the debts they owe.
According to court records, the couple owe nearly $100,000 to the IRS.
Lochte and Kayla are seen in a playful TikTok, as he posed in his swimming attire
Lochte and Reid are said to have met in 2016 before getting engaged that same year
Lochte poses with his gold medal from the 2016 Olympics, where he medaled in the 4×200m freestyle relay
Filed in November 2024, Lochte, along with his wife, were hit with a tax lien of $99,696.09 – which they have yet to pay. The amount owed is a combination of their 2021 taxes of $48,182.76, and 2022 taxes of $51,513.33.
In addition, Shands Teaching Hospital and Clinics filed two liens against the couple in the past two years for not paying the hospital ‘for care, treatment and maintenance’ of the athlete.
The first one was filed in December 2023 for $127,977.73 and the second one was filed in February 2024 for $39,720.15.
In December 2024, Ryan and Kayla were slapped with a claim on their marital home for $2,231.76, which they also did not pay off, per court records.
It appears the family was hit with tremendous stress following Lochte’s car accident in 2023. According to reports, a vehicle had ‘swerved to the left’ without warning or any notice, resulting in Lochte having ‘insufficient time’ to see a GFL garbage truck that was ‘illegally stopped in the same lane’ as him.
As a result, Lochte’s vehicle, a 2022 Ford F150, ‘crashed into the back rear left-hand corner’ of the garbage truck.
But in March 2024, a judge found Lochte guilty of careless driving, ordering him to attend driving school and pay a small fine of $159 for the traffic infraction citation.
