James Van Der Beek, who died last week following a battle with stage 3 colorectal cancer, and his wife Kimberly owed hundreds of thousands in tax debt before paying it off in 2022.
The IRS said the 48-year-old titular “Dawson’s Creek” star and his producer wife owed a total of $269,328.62 in unpaid taxes from 2018 and 2019, resulting in a lien in late 2021, TMZ reports.
The couple — who wed in 2010 and together had six children, aged 4 to 15 — was free and clear by April 2022.
A GoFundMe, initially aiming for $1.5 million, was quickly established for the family following Van Der Beek’s Feb. 11 death.
By Friday, the fundraiser had collected over $2.2 million to “cover essential living expenses, pay bills and support the children’s education” after Van Der Beek’s “medical care and the extended fight against cancer have left the family out of funds.” More than $2.6 million had been raised as of Monday evening.
The WB alum said in 2012 that he “saw almost nothing” from the 6-season “Dawson’s Creek,” which also starred Katie Holmes, Michelle Williams, and Joshua Jackson.
“There was no residual money,” Van Der Beek told TODAY.com at the time, blaming “a bad contract.”
Questions about his finances continued in recent days, after Realtor.com reported Friday that on Jan. 9, Van Der Beek and Kimberly bought the $4.76 million Austin-area ranch to which the family relocated in 2020.
Van Der Beek “secured down payment” for the 5,149-square-foot main house, which sits on 36 acres of property, “with the help of friends through a trust so they could shift from rent to mortgage,” his representative told People on Saturday.
“Law & Order” star Mehcad Brooks, who said he was one of the couple’s closest friends, dismissed the news as “fake AF” on Threads, where he criticized the “blind stupidity, meanness and lack of empathy” of a user casting doubt on the family’s financial straits.
The Daily News has reached out to Van Der Beek’s representative.
