Settlement reached between parties in Buske divorce, child custody, support issues remain

A complicated Madison County divorce featuring the intervention of household products maker S.C. Johnson & Sons, Inc. may be nearing its end.

According to the transcript of a hearing held before Associate Judge Thomas Chapman, all of the parties in the divorce of Sara and Thomas Buske of Edwardsville have reached a 16 page agreement.

That agreement has not yet been filed with the court.

Notice of the Dec. 1 hearing was not listed in the court docket until after the hearing took place.

The transcript states that the parties in the case - the Buskes and S. C. Johnson - have resolved their issues.

Sara Buske filed for divorce last June, eight days after a $200 million civil judgment was entered against her husband in Wisconsin.

Thomas Buske is under federal indictment in Wisconsin for allegedly defrauding S.C. Johnson of millions using inflated invoices from his trucking concerns.

Thomas Buske has pleaded not guilty.

S.C. Johnson filed to intervene in the divorce claiming it was a sham and a move to hide monies owed to the company.

After the appellate court lifted an order by then presiding judge, Madison County Associate Judge Duane Bailey, the company continued to press in the case and filed a motion asking the court to order the Buskes to produce a copy of a pre-nuptial agreement. That document has not been filed according to the case file.

According to the transcript, all parties agreed that they were entering into the settlement of their own free will.

The settlement does not resolve issues of child custody or child support.

There is no notation in the case file of when the next hearing will take place in the case.

A hearing is scheduled in the matter of the foreign judgment Dec. 16, according to court records.

Sara Buske is represented by Howard Feldman and Dennis Orsey and others.

Thomas Buske is represented by Vickie Cochran and others.

S.C. Johnson is represented by Andrew Velloff, Michael Foster, and Thomas Q. Keefe Jr.

The case is Madison case number 08-D-560.