Getty A gavel in court
Divorce proceedings between “Real Housewives of Miami” star Lisa Hochstein and her estranged husband, Dr. Leonard Hochstein, are quickly turning bitter. Lenny Hochstein filed for divorce in Miami-Dade County in May and has been fighting in court to have his estranged wife thrown out of their multi-million-dollar Star Island mansion, records obtained by Heavy show. Lisa Hochstein is now firing back in a new court filing.
Lisa Hochstein’s attorneys are challenging the legitimacy of a prenuptial agreement the couple signed before their 2009 marriage. Her husband has claimed that the prenup requires her to move out of their marital home. Lisa Hochstein has asked a judge to allow her to stay in the mansion with the couple’s two children. Her attorneys also revealed in the new court documents that Lenny Hochstein moved in with his girlfriend after the couple separated and recently signed a lease on an apartment in a luxury skyscraper in Miami. Lenny Hochstein’s attorneys have not responded to the court filing from his estranged wife’s lawyers.
In the June 24, 2022, court filing, which can be read here, Lisa Hochstein’s attorneys say a judge should rule the prenuptial agreement “should not be enforced,” because the section that would require her to leave their marital home is “contrary to Florida law.” Her attorneys are also arguing that the court should determine whether forcing her out of the house would “be in the best interest” of their children and whether it would “infringe upon the minor children’s rights.”
Lisa Hochstein has remained in the couple’s $52 million mansion with their kids, Logan, 6, and Elle, 2. Her attorneys say that when the couple split, Lenny Hochstein moved in with his girlfriend, model Katharina Mazepa, who has been a major source of tension during their separation. Lisa Hochstein’s attorneys also say that Lenny recently signed a lease in May 2022 on a “luxury residential skyscraper” and moved there in June. According to court filings from Lenny Hochstein’s attorneys, the cosmetic surgeon and med spa owner has offered to buy her a $3.5 million home in the Miami area or pay her rent while the divorce is finalized. A hearing in the case is slated for late July.
Lisa Hochstein’s Attorneys Say Her Estranged Husband ‘Will Verbally Berate & Threaten’ Her ‘With the Stated Intention at Times of Causing’ Her to “Vacate the Former Marital Residence With the Minor Children’
Lisa Hochstein’s attorneys say that while Lenny Hochstein has been living with his girlfriend and now in his own apartment he, “continues to enter the former marital residence periodically,” and has “verbally” accosted her, “often times within earshot of the minor children. … There was one occasion in June 2022 in which the husband acted in a completely inappropriate fashion in the presence of the minor children, husband’s mother and nanny.”
Her attorneys added, “The husband will verbally berate and threaten the wife with the stated intention at times of causing the wife to vacate the former marital residence with the minor children. The husband has taken the wife’s vehicle used to drive without the minor children and refuses to return it. The husband has now threatened to take the remaining vehicle at times, which is the vehicle the wife utilizes to transport the minor children. The husband’s strategy is not working.”
Miami Dade CourtA screenshot from Lisa Hochstein’s attorney’s filing in her divorce case.
The court filing adds, “It is in the best interest of the minor children for the wife to have exclusive use and possession of the former marital residence. The husband’s unannounced visits should cease as they serve no legitimate purpose. The husband does not announce when and if he will be stopping by the former marital residence. Yet the husband becomes upset with the wife when he stops by the former marital residence unannounced three to four evenings a week and the children are not available to him as they may be engaged in pre-planned activities and are not available for him.”
According to the court filing, Lenny Hochstein comes to the Star Island home three to four days each week for a one-hour workout with his private trainer, despite having a gym at his new apartment. He then showers in their master bathroom and “lays on the bed in the master bedroom (the bed the wife sleeps in) and watches teleivision or is engaged on his laptop or phone.” He then spend time with his children for about a half hour, Hochstein’s attorneys say. He also sees the kids for an hour or two on weekends, they say in the court filing.
Lisa Hochstein Says Lenny’s Model Girlfriend ‘Should Not Have Any Contact or Access’ to the Couple’s Kids
Lisa Hochstein’s attorneys say she “recongizes that the husband should have a close and meaningful relationship with the minor children. In fact, the wife has encouraged the husband to have overnights with the minor children, something that the husband has not exercised since May 2, 2022. But Hochstein’s attorneys say if they do spend time overnight with Lenny, “his timesharing with the minor children should be free from any interference or interaction wit his presumed girlfriend.”
According to the court filing, “The parties have two very young and sheltered children and have just learned their parents are separating. The minor children are not responind well to the parties’ dissolution. The husband has exposed the minor children to his presumed girlfriend which is detrimental to the best interest of the minor children.”
Miami Dade County CourtA screenshot from Lisa Hochstein’s attorney’s filing in her divorce case.
Lisa Hochstein’s attorneys also wrote that Mazepa, “has acted and continues to act in a manner that would be seen as injurious by this honorable court to the minor chuldren should she have any contact or access with the minor children at this time. As such, the court should require certain safeguards and parameters during husband’s time sharing to ensure he does not expose the minor children to his presumed girlfriend. Similarly, if the wife was to begin dating, she should also be prohibited from exposing the minor children to any significant others. What is good for the goose is good for the gander.”
The filing adds, “The wife is not dating, has not dated, has always been loyal to the husband and continues to be loyal to the husband even though the husband filed this divorce unnaounced and wihtout the wife’s knowledge. Given that the wife is the parent primarily responsible for the upbringing of the minor children, it is in the best interest of the minor children for the wife to exclusive use and possession of the former marital residence. There has been certain conduct engaged in by the husband that will not be plead at this time for the purpose of maintaining some semblance of the parties’ privacy.”