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via Getty

via Getty

After a long legal battle, Richard Williams, father of Venus and Serena Williams, has finally given up on his Florida-based house in Palm Beach Gardens. According to recent reports, Richard’s estranged wife, Lakeisha Williams, also withdrew from the case despite her best effort to stall the case.

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Notably, Lakeshia tried her best to take the house from ‘King Richard’, by allegedly faking his signature on the papers. She mortgaged the house for nearly $255,000. However, after failing to pay the amount, the house was scheduled for an auction. However, Lakeshia stalled the auction by filing a bankruptcy case.

Richard Williams finally loses his Florida house after a long legal battle

According to court documents, Richard Williams appeared at the hearing on 23rd August but did not present any arguments against the selling of the house. As a result, the judge declared that the house will go for an auction.

Read More: ‘Never Ever Felt Broke’ – When Serena Williams Revealed How Richard Williams and Oracene Price Trained Her to Be Financially Smart

On the other hand, Richard’s estranged wife, Lakeshia, 43 years younger than him, tried her best to stall the case once again but failed to do that. Notably, Lakeshia borrowed the money from David Simon, a ‘hard lender’. After failing to pay him back, he decided to auction the house earlier in February.

However, Lakeisha filed a chapter 13 bankruptcy case, which halted the auction. Later, the court dismissed her case, so she appealed for the case to be reinstated again. Before that, she promised to give the money back to the lender in installments, which she again failed to do.

It is worth noting that Richard married Lakeisha back in 2009, and they have a son together. However, in 2017, he filed for a divorce, and the legal battle between them is still continuing.

Venus and Serena Williams’ difficult childhood

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Before moving to the Florida House, Venus and Serena Williams were living in Compton in a small house along with her parents Richard and Oracene, and three other sisters. Moreover, their financial condition was not great, which made their living really difficult.

Watch This Story: When Serena Williams detailed how she controlled immense pain in order to not worry her mother

Later, they moved to Florida to train in Rick Macci’s academy. In 1995, Richard and Oracene bought the Palm Beach Gardens house in Florida for around $355,000. After coming to Florida, their daily lives somewhat improved as Venus and Serena started playing more tournaments.

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via Imago

After making their professional debut, many thought Venus would win the first Grand Slam title between the two sisters. Interestingly, Serena won the US Open in 1999 and became the first Williams sister to win a Grand Slam. However, a year later, Venus became a Grand Slam champion, as she won both Wimbledon and US Open in 2000. In the end, Serena won 23 Grand Slam titles and Venus won 7.