Is the Duggar empire starting to crumble?

The 19 Kids And Counting family may not live in Hollywood, but don’t think for a second they’re just your average family next door. Their home is a literal compound, where most of the adult family members still live. All in all, we’re talking over 97 acres of land. Even in Arkansas, that’s worth a ton. As of last July, Jim Bob Duggar‘s real estate holdings were worth an estimated $6,235,050.

The controversial patriarch has just been acquiring more money and power for years, but there’s reason to suspect there are some major cracks forming in his little kingdom. According to property records obtained by The Sun, the family just sold off a bit of their massive plot of land. The outlet reports the Duggars sold 5.80 acres of a 20-acre parcel to their neighbors in a “property line adjustment” — getting $46,400 in exchange — back on January 28.

Were they in need of a cash infusion? It kind of makes sense…

First off, there are Josh Duggar‘s legal bills. The 33-year-old was arrested last spring on child pornography charges — and by Christmas he was convicted after a quick but horrifying trial. But all that didn’t go down without a fight. His lawyers put up motion after motion, trying to get the case dismissed, trying to get evidence thrown out, and most recently trying to get him a new trial altogether. That kind of legal battle takes some serious money, and who do you think was ponying it up?

Not to mention, Jim Bob himself probably overextended a bit when he ran a failed bid for state senate last year. Those aren’t cheap either.

All these expenditures come after the big cash cow got slaughtered when TLC finally canceled their long-running reality show. Yes, 19 Kids technically got canceled back in 2015, after Josh’s original child molestation scandal. But the spinoff, Counting On, has been revealed to be little more than a rebranding. And all the money kept on rolling in, right to the same place. Now that Josh’s child porn scandal got that canceled, too, the family is losing out on an income of about $850,000 per season, according to The Sun. A source told the outlet:

“The family was roughly paid $80k for each chunk of filming, and some seasons were longer than others, but they were picking up on average $850k a season.”

The insider confirmed what “star” Jill Dillard first revealed a couple years back, that the kids weren’t actually paid anything to appear on camera, even as adults:

“I think a lot of people will be shocked to learn they were earning that much, and it all went to Jim Bob who invested some of it for the family, and handed the rest out. But there were often arguments about payments, who deserved what and whether people were being paid correctly for their time on air, that was a major issue over the years. Some family members are glad TLC pulled the plug so they can go off on their own and manage their own money, but Jim Bob is undoubtedly pissed because it was a huge income.”

And yet, we aren’t seeing any end to the spending, not when they’re still working on freeing Joshie. It looks like Jim Bob is tightening the belt where he can — by selling off some of that land.

We don’t know if this is a sign of things to come. Of course, it’s hard to feel bad considering what they’re spending the money on — and why their show got canceled in the first place. Oh well.

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