Robert Tilton

=== Tilton sued for fraud ===
Several donors to Tilton's television ministry sued Tilton in 1992–1993, charging various forms of fraud. One plaintiff, Vivian Elliott, won $1.5 million in 1994 when it was discovered that a family crisis center for which she had made a donation (and recorded an endorsement testimonial) was never built or even intended to be built.<ref name="cbs" /> The judgment was later reversed on appeal.

As part of the [[defense (law)|defense]] strategy to the fraud cases, Tilton sued Anthony, Guetzlaff and four plaintiff's lawyers who had filed the fraud cases against him in federal court in Tulsa. The tactic is known to critics as a "SLAPP" ([[strategic lawsuit against public participation]]) suit. Tilton claimed that the individuals conspired to violate his [[First Amendment]] rights under a federal statute designed to protect black citizens from the [[Ku Klux Klan]]. ([[Enforcement Act of 1871 (third act)|42 U.S.C. Sec. 1985.]]) Defense attorneys Martin Merritt of Dallas and [[ACLU]] lawyer Michael Linz, also of Dallas, with others, won dismissal for the six defendants in federal district court. On appeal, in ''Tilton v. Richardson'', 6 F.3d 683 (10th Cir.1993), the [[10th Circuit Court of Appeals]] affirmed the dismissal on the grounds that 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1985 did not protect a nonminority individual against a purely private conspiracy, if one existed. The fraud cases continued until the [[Texas Supreme Court]] eventually ruled that the plaintiffs could not prove damages because they could not show that, if Tilton had actually prayed over the prayer requests, the prayers would have been answered.{{citation needed|date=September 2015}}

The decline of ''Success-N-Life'' also led to the end of Tilton's 25-year marriage to his wife Marte, who had been administrative head of the Word of Faith Family Church and World Outreach Center, in 1993. Dallas lawyer Gary Richardson, who represented many of the parties suing Tilton for fraud, attempted to intervene in the Tiltons' divorce, citing the potential for the divorce settlement to be used to hide financial assets that were currently part of the many fraud cases; Richardson's petition to have the divorce action put on hold until after the fraud cases were settled was denied.<ref name="the_prophet_of_prosperity" /> Marte intervened in Tilton's second divorce from Leigh Valentine, who had asked the court to include the church and all its assets as community property in the proceedings. Under Texas law, property accumulated during a marriage is considered community property and thus subject to division between the parties in a divorce. The jury eventually ruled against the request.<ref name="divorce">{{cite web|url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/1997/march3/7t363b.html|title=Tilton's Church to Retain Assets|date=March 3, 1997 |access-date=April 15, 2017}}</ref>