Lynn Toler Net Worth

What Is Lynn Toler’s Net Worth?

Lynn Toler is an American judge, lawyer, author, and reality television personality who has a net worth of $20 million. Lynn Toler is best known as the star of the reality courtroom television show “Divorce Court” (2006–2020), which earned Daytime Emmy nominations for Outstanding Legal/Courtroom Program in 2011, 2014, and 2018. Toler earned a JD graduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. For eight years, she was the only municipal judge in Cleveland Heights, Ohio’s municipal court. During this time, Lynn served on the boards of organizations such as The Juvenile Diabetes Board, The Cleveland Domestic Violence Center, and The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. Toler also created and ran a mentoring program for teenage girls. She was the recipient of the Humanitarian of the Year Award from the Cleveland Domestic Violence Center in 2002. Lynn is the author of the books “My Mother’s Rules: A Practical Guide to Becoming an Emotional Genius,” “Put it in Writing!: Creating Agreements Between Family and Friends,” “Dear Sonali, Letters to the Daughter I Never Had,” and “Making Marriage Work: New Rules for an Old Institution.” She also hosted the reality show “Marriage Boot Camp,” and she created and executive-produced the 2023 drama series “Judge Me Not.”

Lynn Toler Salary Per Episode

When Lynn first took over on “Divorce Court,” she was paid $300,000 per season. That was quickly bumped to $500,000 for season two. After five seasons, in 2011, she negotiated a deal to earn $3 million per year. She later earned $5 million per year. From 2006 to 2018, the show filmed in Los Angeles, then it filmed in Atlanta. “Divorce Court” filmed around 160 episodes per year. For Lynn, that broke down to $31,250 per episode. She filmed 10 episodes per day, 16 days per year, so on a per-day basis, she made $312,500.

Early Life

Lynn Toler was born Lynn Candace Toler on October 25, 1959, in Columbus, Ohio. Her father was bipolar, and Lynn suffered emotional trauma as a result. In a 2007 interview with NPR, she revealed, “I had two nervous breakdowns by the time I think I was 12 – mom’s not quite sure. The first one I had in the fourth grade. And I was, as my mother often said, someone who fell a little too close to her husband’s emotional tree. And that’s why I found my mother’s way of doing business so important, because she helped me walk from an emotional mess to one in which I can control how I feel and what I think.” Toler attended Columbus School for Girls, then she graduated from Harvard College with a degree in English and American Literature in 1981. She then enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, earning a Juris Doctor in 1984.

Career

Toler began her law career specializing in civil matters, then in 1993, she ran as a Republican in a mostly Democratic district and won her first judicial race by only six votes. From 1994 to 2000, Lynn was the only judge serving in the Cleveland Heights Municipal Court, and her cases involved traffic violations, misdemeanors, and minor-cost civil cases. She gained attention for her non-traditional judgments, including handwritten essays, and for creating intervention and mentoring programs. Toler also served on the boards of The Cleveland Domestic Violence Center, The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, and The Juvenile Diabetes Board, and The Cleveland Domestic Violence Center honored her with its Humanitarian of the Year Award in 2002. Lynn was the head of the Cleveland Heights Coordinated Community Response to Violence against Women, and she was an advisory board member for the women’s shelter Templum House. From 2001 to 2006, she taught courses on Women’s Rights and Civil Rights Law as an adjunct professor at Ohio’s Ursuline College.

Jonathan Leibson/Getty Images

In 2001, Toler became the presiding judge on the courtroom TV series “Power of Attorney,” replacing Andrew Napolitano. The show was canceled after the season ended, and in 2006, Lynn found fame as the arbitrating judge on television’s longest-running courtroom program, “Divorce Court.” She replaced Mablean Ephriam on the show and became the program’s longest-running judge, leaving in 2020 after 14 years.

During her time on “Divorce Court,” Toler also hosted the MyNetworkTV series “Decision House” and was a regular contributor on the NPR program “News and Notes.” In February 2020, Lynn began hosting the We TV reality series “Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars,” and in 2023, she created and executive-produced the Allblk drama “Judge Me Not.” She published her first book, “My Mother’s Rules: A Practical Guide to Becoming an Emotional Genius,” in which she wrote about “her mother’s ‘rules’ for life – a life that saw her grow up the daughter of a poor teen mother and endure a husband who suffered mental illness and alcoholism – with providing the grounding for her own success and happiness.” Toler also released the books “Put it in Writing!: Creating Agreements Between Family and Friends” (co-written with Deborah Hutchison), “Dear Sonali, Letters to the Daughter I Never Had,” and “Making Marriage Work: New Rules for an Old Institution.”

Personal Life

Lynn married Eric Mumford on April 6, 1989, and they welcomed two children together. Toler is also stepmother to Mumford’s four sons from a previous marriage. Lynn and Eric remained together until Mumford’s death on December 23, 2022. Politically, Toler has identified as an Independent since 2017, and she has donated to Democratic candidates such as President Joe Biden, Amy McGrath, and Jaime Harrison.