Top 10 Memorable Family Disputes on Judge Judy
#10: Don’t Look at Me
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Plaintiff Joshua Pritchard was assaulted by his girlfriend Molly’s brother-in-law over stolen money. In what is possibly a “Judge Judy” first, the guy who committed physical assault in this case comes out looking like the sane one. The judge usually doesn’t usually have time for emotional litigants, but she’s surprisingly delicate with Molly, who’s clearly overwhelmed. While the plaintiff had a restraining order against the defendant, it seems that he purposefully took up a job at a location that he knew the latter frequented, probably with the purpose of getting the defendant in trouble. The whole thing reeks of dysfunctional family drama. When all is said and done, we’re just left feeling sorry for the messy situation between the sisters.
#9: Evicting Mom
Years of resentments boil over in this case. An elderly woman sues her daughter over an unreturned loan and a trailer home. The daughter comes with a tale about her mother’s attempts to cheat the government, and that the loan was actually a gift. The daughter refuses to sign an order that would keep her from evicting her mother, losing the sympathy of the audience and the judge. It appears she wants to have her cake and eat it too by owning the trailer, but not wanting her mother to have secure housing. No one is interested in her sob stories. By the end of the case, the judge has shamed her into signing an order to secure her mother’s residence in the trailer.
#8: Open Door Policy
We all go through rough times. Sometimes, you gotta move back home with Mom. It usually doesn’t end in a restraining order, though. Once Judge Judy starts getting straight answers out of these slightly uncooperative plaintiffs, she hears their case against the man’s mother and stepfather. It starts to sound more like a dispute between a teenage boy and his parents than a grown man. Apparently, at one point, the mother “harassed” them over things like paying rent and helping with errands. The judge doesn’t even need the parents to say a word. She’s got less sympathy than usual, and that’s a low bar.
#7: We Are Family (Well, Kind Of)
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Family dynamics can be difficult to navigate. They can be especially complicated when you don’t know if someone is your nephew, cousin, or your best friend’s son. Judge Judy likes to keep things as legal and formal as possible. So, when the plaintiff starts things off in this case by confusing the judge with her relationship to her witness, we can already tell this one’s gonna be a headache. A nasty custody battle and a who-paid-for-what line of thinking lead to disagreements about who owes the plaintiff rent. It’s so satisfying to watch the judge’s verbal smackdown on the plaintiff’s nephew-cousin.
#6: “This Is Not Like a Kitten”
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Technically, it’s a property damage case. However, the family drama at the center of this case is what makes it memorable. When Valencia Carroll asked her mother to take in her friend’s baby, her stepfather clearly gave her an answer she didn’t want to hear. The defendant’s elaborate story about how a TV and a car was damaged makes about as much sense as her logic behind trying to hand her mom full-time care of a baby. It’s clear she lost her cool, and just didn’t want to hear the word “no.”
#5: Childhood Savings
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Having earned money as a teenager and placed it in a savings account, the now-grown plaintiff decided to cash out and put the funds toward buying a house with her new husband. Lo and behold, she comes to find out that the account had been closed seven years before, and the money was nowhere to be found. She suspects her mother of fault, as she was the only other person listed on the account. Even if she is innocent, and it was a bank error, her mother doesn’t even seem bothered that her daughter’s money is gone. She just keeps repeating, “I don’t remember.” Whatever the case may be, the evidence unfortunately just isn’t there.
#4: “She’s a Pot-Stirrer!”
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It’s like a sitcom plot gone wrong. Plaintiff Patricia Reynante’s incessant correcting, speaking out of turn, and outbursts don’t endear her to anyone in the room, let alone the judge. She truly is the epitome of a difficult mother-in-law. Whether she wants it or not, drama just seems to follow her. She is unable to hear anything she disagrees with, and has decided her right to see her granddaughter trumps a restraining order. Judge Judy doesn’t necessarily agree with Reynante’s take on the law. She skewers the plaintiff for the entire audience, pointing out that she is the problem in the whole situation. Reynante, true to form, disagrees.
#3: “Don’t Speak!”
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A death in the family can be incredibly stressful, especially when money is involved. Upon his sister’s death, the hotheaded plaintiff was shocked when she left all her money to their cousin. Although the plaintiff insists the case is not about the money, the judge cuts right through that idea. It’s not her first rodeo, after all, and let’s just say this irritates him. He can barely keep from blurting out responses throughout the case. But the judge takes mercy on him when she realizes the cousin might not exactly have clean hands regarding property damage and insurance payout. You know it’s a messy case when someone who has to be told several times not to speak still walks away a winner.
#2: “I’m Suing My Mother”
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There are a lot of unhealed wounds in this case. Plaintiff Glenn Hazelton’s lawsuit against his mother for false arrest is ultimately unfounded, but his behavior in court, and his mother’s downcast demeanor makes this one hard to swallow. From storming out after being asked about his arrest record to his slightly impaired speech, Hazelton has a hard time communicating with the judge. Meanwhile, his mother is forced to tell how her late daughter was assaulted by the plaintiff when he attempted to steal her TV. The way his mother is positioned facing away from him the entire time makes this one horribly sad.
#1: Rigor Mortis Stew
Family disputes on court shows are usually a bit more dramatic and a lot less hilarious than Dettenheim vs. Dettenheim. Plaintiff Eve Dettenheim sues her sister Carol for damages to her car, resulting from a collision with a deer. Carol had a pretty novel way of making amends. She cooked the dead deer, then offered some meat to her sister. This one has some of the best quotes in the history of the show – or possibly in the history of any legal case. From the plaintiff’s amazing refusal to eat her sister’s “rigor mortis stew” to the judge asking who the defendant relies on to do her thinking for her, this is classic “Judge Judy.”
