RHONJ’s Teresa Giudice 'FILES FOR DIVORCE' from husband Luis Ruelas amid staggering $3MILLION tax debt – with no prenup to protect her fortune as legal expert warns of ‘financial chaos’ - suong

REAL Housewives of New Jersey star Teresa Giudice’s divorce would be a 'nightmare' if she split from her husband, Luis Ruelas, after their financial issues have been revealed. 

The U.S. Sun previously reported Teresa, 52, and Luis, 49, were hit with tax liens totalling $3,037,255.2. 

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Before her lavish 2022 wedding to Luis, the RHONJ star revealed she isn’t getting a prenup.

The U.S. Sun spoke exclusively with Beverly Hills attorney Adam Michael Sacks, who has not worked with Teresa or Luis, on the difficulty of divorcing with no prenup. 

The attorney claimed, “If they divorce with no prenup, it would be a mess. 

“Husband and wife are 50/50 partners. If you have a debt, that could be half yours and half his.”

TAX TROUBLE

The U.S. Sun previously reported Teresa and Luis were hit with over $3 million in taxes.

New Jersey courts confirmed Teresa was issued a tax lien on March 20, 2025 for $303,889.20. 

Luis’ tax liens were issued on December 12, 2024, in the amount of $163,523.94 and on March 6, 2025, for $2,569,842.06. 

The $163,523.94 tax lien has been paid off, according to New Jersey Courts. 

The U.S. Sun also reported Teresa has an active tax lien from her marriage to her first husband, Joe Giudice, in the amount of $551,563.30 for the 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2013 years.

A rep for Teresa and Luis did not respond to The U.S. Sun's request for comment on their tax issues or if they are in the process of a payment plan. 

MORTGAGE TRROUBLES

The U.S. Sun also reported Teresa's husband Luis asked for an extension on a $1 million loan for their $3,350,000 mansion in Montville, New Jersey that they purchased in January 2021. 

Luis, who is the sole owner of the LLC used to buy the house, took out a one million dollar loan on March 25, 2024.

In addition to asking for an extension, Luis also requested $250,000 more. 

A Mortgage Modification was filed with New Jersey courts on March 24, 2025. 

Court papers obtained by The U.S. Sun read the $1 million loan given to Luis by a Florida limited liability company will mature, meaning final payment is due, on March 25, 2025. 

“The Borrower has requested, and the Lender has agreed to extend the maturity date of the Initial Loan from March 25, 2025 to March 25, 2026,” the court papers read. 

“The Lender is lending to Borrower an additional loan in the principal sum of $250,000.”

Luis also agreed to pay the Lender a loan fee of $5,000. 

The couple did not take out a loan when they first purchased the seven-bedroom, 10-bathroom mansion.

'EVERYTHING WILL BE RESOLVED'

Teresa’s daughter, Gia, opened up about her mom and stepdad’s financial issues on her podcast, Casual Chaos. 

She said, “My mom has been the sole provider for my sisters and I since the minute my father left for prison.

“She has been working her ass off to make sure that my sisters and I live a stable life and that my family is financially stable. I can’t stress enough how much my mom has worked. Everything will be resolved.”

Gia continued, “My mom has everything under control and there’s nothing to worry about. My stepdad Luis is the most amazing stepfather… He is also working on getting everything resolved as well.”

MARRIAGE TROUBLE

While Teresa didn’t bring up the tax issues on her podcast, Turning the Tables with Teresa Giudice, she did go into how difficult her relationship to Luis was in the beginning of their romance.

"I really didn't want the world to know right away," she said of their romance. "I just, I wanted to keep him private, especially because I wanted to protect Louie."

She continued of going public with their romance, "I just kept talking to Louie. He calmed me down, because I used to be, I have that Italian fiery temper, and he just calmed me down. It is hard."

The couple’s financial issues have been a storyline on RHONJ, as Teresa's co-star Margaret Josephs said on Season 14 that Luis "pissed her money away."

Teresa denied the claims on Tori Spelling's podcast, misSPELLING, as she fired, "Margaret says my husband spends all my money. Like, b***h, you don't even know what you're talking about.”

"She's not even in my house. She's putting out this false narrative out there. And it's like, she's trying to make me her storyline."

PRENUP PROBLEM

Teresa also sparked concern among fans when she told Bravo's Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live that she would not be getting a prenup with Luis before their lavish wedding. 

Andy argued when he received pushback on the idea from Teresa and her oldest daughter, Gia, "Why wouldn't she sign a prenup?"

"You just put it in writing. Of course, they don't want to take anything from each other.”

SHOW ON PAUSE

Teresa stars on the Bravo series with co-stars Dolores Catania, Melissa Gorga, Margaret Josephs, Jennifer Aydin, Danielle Cabral and Rachel Fuda.

The show is currently on pause, as Andy sparked rumors of a complete cast reboot when he said on his SiriusXM radio show in July, “We are rebooting the show. We're going to reboot it. We're going to do something different.

"We're gonna see what we do. I don't know. Maybe just all fresh faces? Maybe. We'll see."

Teresa's co-star Dolores gave insight exclusively to The U.S. Sun in December 2024 as to why the series is currently on hiatus. 

“We have heard nothing from the bosses about our show. Nothing. Nothing from production nothing from NBC, we’re not even talking about it,” Dolores told The U.S. Sun. 

“They’re probably just so mad at us by now, I’m not sure they know what to do.”

Dolores explained how the “fighting got out of hand,” resulting in the network leaving the show’s future up in the air. 

She said, “A lot of things leaked, a lot of things [came out] on social media that shouldn’t have been, a lot of fighting outside [the show]. It just got too messy.”

Dolores also said she doesn’t believe the rumors that the network will fire the entire cast. 

“I don't think they want to revamp the whole cast,” she said. “We’re an ensemble cast. Like us or hate us, like one person, love the next, hate the next, we worked good together on our best of days and on our worst of days. 

“I would hate to see anybody not come back.”

REALITY CHECK

Tax Controversy Attorney Adam Brewer, who has not worked with Teresa or Luis, revealed to The U.S. Sun the penalties the couple face if their debt goes unpaid with the show's potential return. 

"Mainly we worry about late payment penalties," he explained. "IRS is generally going to top out at 25 percent.

"She’s would be looking at paying past due taxes plus current taxes at the same time. It really can put a crutch on you."

He explained the IRS could garnish "wages" and "bank accounts" if the debt goes unpaid after a period of time.

"If you’re not in a payment plan, if you don’t have some sort of formal agreement to pay it, then they can seize assets," the attorney explained.

"The bank accounts and wages, that’s easy. They send out one letter to a bank or employer and seize the funds."

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