My aunt and her husband got divorced before I was born. He was a businessman, and he lived in Newport Beach. My aunt and the rest of my family live in the Inland Empire (both CA). Around 12-14, her two daughters decided to go live with dad, who had money and live on Balboa Island. One of them holds a bit of a grudge, saying they didn't think their mom did a great job and that is why they left. Now, what she doesn't know is that my aunt often didn't eat in order to feed them. Their dad still owes her over $30,000 in child support. I am 37, so you can see this is a long time ago. My cousins are in their 40s now.
Anyway, we've joked that my aunt ought to put in her will that she is leaving the $30,000 in back child support to her kids as a final 'fuck you' to her ex.
Scott told Stern he needed $60k to maintain his lifestyle, and that included child support, daddy responsibilities, and any alimony. We have been told in several interviews that he loves the album making process, but has to tour constantly to make money. It doesn't take a genius to do the math there. So when we find out that he was missing checks and an absentee dad who CPS wouldn't let alone with the kids and refused to go to their events or invite them to his wedding...well, I think I feel a little lied to. I thought at the very least Scott would be honest about that.
My point in bringing up my family business is that I can understand why Mary is angry. Once you have a kid, you have fundamental responsibilities, and he was implying that he was doing those things, and it turns out he wasn't. People are complicated, so I can separate feeling contempt for him continuing the cycle of dads leaving kids and the part where I think he was a good soul who lost a battle. I can appreciate the talent and hate some of his actions.
Mary has a right to be very upset. That said, the timing here is questionable in that it does NOTHING to help her kids now. Doing this while he was alive might have been the one thing to turn him around.