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After years of financial strain, 'Sister Wives' Kody Brown reveals who he thinks caused the family's troubles

Kody Brown blamed a member of the polygamy family for the financial woes that the Browns have always faced.

‘Sister Wives’ showcases the life of the Browns, a polygamous family led by one man, Kody Brown. Although he built multiple households, marrying four wives and supporting 18 children, it became clear he struggled financially. IKody and Meri filed for bankruptcy in 2005, and Christine filed separately in 2010. When the family moved to Arizona in 2018, it created more financial strain, including an $820,000 land purchase at Coyote Pass. For those unaware, the land remained undeveloped due to ongoing financial and family disputes.

According to a Screen Rant article, Kody blamed his second ex-wife, Janelle, for financial issues, saying she handled bookkeeping in Season 19. During a recent episode from the latest season’s Tell All special, Kody placed much of the blame for the family's financial troubles on Janelle. The two separated in 2022 after 29 years of marriage, and according to Kody, Janelle managed the bookkeeping.

Other sister wives reportedly said Kody led them to believe Janelle was making all the financial decisions. However, Janelle insisted that she was only doing the accounting. Instead, she accused Kody of mismanaging funds and claimed he and Robyn prioritized lavish spending. They spent it on luxury cars and a $1.6 million home and other such things and did not take part in collective goals, as per Janelle. 

With all of these persisting issues, the high mortgage payments on multiple properties only added to the woes, which, again, coupled with legal fees from their polygamy advocacy, ultimately made everything worse. As per the outlet, the family's financial instability continued with public records as well as family statements proving their ongoing financial struggles. The Browns couldn't balance their ambitious lifestyle with limited resources. However, it should be noted that they often tried to start a new business, such as a jewelry store and more, but it all couldn't flourish. 

Talking about their issues, Kody and Janelle's daughter, Maddie Brush, opened up in an interview on the Authentic Society podcast on YouTube, stating, "Before the show, we were very poor." "I think my dad made decent money, but we had 15 kids," she added. However, the recent sale of their land at Coyote Pass has proven to be a sigh of relief. As per The Sun, the Browns paid $820,000 for the property in 2018. However, the family sold it for $1.5 million. Now this money will be split between the sister wives, Robyn, Janelle, and Meri, except Christine, as she sold the rights to Kody when she stepped out of the marriage back in 2021. Kody had planned to build five homes on the property, one for each wife: Meri, Janelle, Christine, Robyn, and one for himself. His plan also included having a separate home for himself.