Missing Balitmore Son and Mother Found in Mexico

A Hagerstown boy whose mother took him to Mexico 10 years ago amid a custody dispute has been returned to the United States and is refusing to see his father.

Houston Child Protective Services spokeswoman Estella Olguin said Friday the boy's father, Donald Wiswell, went to Houston in hopes of being reunited with his son but that 14-year-old Joseph Kennedy refused to go with him.

Custody Fight Over Boy Gets Heated

The battle over a 5 year old boy, who deputies say was the victim of a mop handle attack, got ugly Tuesday.

It was the day after Thanksgiving, when 7 year old Jeremy Dickerson was found dead inside his parents Anderson County home.

Britney Marriage Broke Over Kids, Federline Says

Kevin Federline said his two year marriage to Britney Spears broke down because he focused on his children but he was "completely blindsided" when the pop star went behind his back and filed for divorce.

Federline, 30, the dancer and wannabe rapper who married Spears in 2004, told People magazine in a rare interview he fought hard for custody of their two young sons.

Cleveland Custody Case Getting National Attention

A press conference was held at the Bradley County Courthouse Wednesday involving a movie producer, a member of the Institute for the American Family, a Constitutional attorney and a Cleveland man who are questioning the child custody practices in the Bradley County Court system.

Jeremy Hopkins has been litigating for two years to get a divorce from his wife and to arrange a custody plan for their daughter Kate, 3.

Madonna and Guy Ritchie Settle Custody

Now that Madonna and Guy Ritchie have acted their age and agreed on joint custody, will the former power couple be able to swallow their bitterness for the sake of their kids?

"The good news is that they spared the children the pain and suffering of a protracted custody battle," says Amy J.L. Baker, a developmental psychologist with an expertise in children and divorce. "The real challenge now is if these two people, who have a lot of hostility between them, can figure out how to co-parent these kids. It's enormously difficult, and very easy to get it wrong."

Ark. Seizes 21 More Kids from Evangelist's Group

State officials on Tuesday took into protective custody 21 children associated with an evangelical group whose founder faces federal child sex charges.

The children, all younger than 18 and part of the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries, were taken while custody hearings were being held for six girls seized during a September raid of Alamo's compound in Fouke, in southwest Arkansas. The court must decide whether the girls should be returned to their parents or remain in state care.

Learn About New Custody Provisions in Florida

Q: I am getting divorced. A friend told me Florida has a new law about child custody. Will that affect my case?

A: Earlier this year, Florida’s Legislative modified the child custody provisions of Florida Statute Chapter 61. That chapter deals with divorce, child support and related issues.

Hospital Run Could Cost Britney Custody

Talk about a bad reaction.

On her first trip with her sons back to Louisiana since she lost custody, Britney Spears' youngest son, Jayden James Federline, was rushed to the hospital for having what Spears' reps deemed a "reaction to something he ingested."

Although the 2-year-old tyke has since been released and declared "fine," it's possible an even worse reaction could transpire, should Kevin Federline seek to restrict Spears' remaining custody rights for the duo's two sons.

Teens Abandoned Under Nebraska Safe Haven Law

A 16-year-old girl dropped off Sunday under Nebraska's flawed safe-haven law was a ward of the state of Arizona from August to October of 2008, Nebraska health officials state in a news release.

The girl's mother brought her to the Midlands Hospital in Papillion, Nebraska (pictured) on Sunday afternoon and legally abandoned her, according to the release.

From the release:

Based on information available so far, DHHS’ understanding is that in October, the Arizona court agreed to dismiss the case at the request of the mother, who desired to return to Nebraska to have more support from family and friends located here. The mother and daughter appear to have returned to Nebraska just last week.

Father of Kidnapped Boy Granted Full Custody

The mother of six-year-old kidnapping victim Cole Puffinburger has lost her full-time custody rights.

Wednesday, a family court judge awarded temporary full-time custody to Robert Puffinburger, Cole's father. And there is a disturbing reason behind the decision. News 3's Dan Ball explains why police are now looking into whether Cole's mother had something to do with his abduction.

It was just about two weeks ago on October 15 that Cole Puffinburger was violently taken from his home.Thankfully, it was just three days later that he was found.

But now, new information just released by Metro shows some odd behavior by his mother Julie several weeks before the abduction.

Collapsed International Marriages Rasie Child Abduction Issue

Japanese women from collapsed international marriages are increasingly bringing their children to Japan without confirming custody rights, creating diplomatic problems between Japan and other countries, it has emerged.

In one case three years ago, a Japanese woman's marriage to a Swedish man collapsed and she brought their child to Japan. Later when she traveled to the United States by herself she was detained, as police in Sweden had put her on an international wanted list through Interpol for child abduction. She was sent to Sweden and put on trial.

The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction bans people from taking their children to their home country after a collapsed marriage without confirming issues such as custody and visitation rights. The convention has about 80 signatory countries, mainly in Europe and North America, but Japan is not one of them.

50 Cent Wraps Up Custody Deal

There'll be no more kidding around for 50 Cent. At least, not in court.

The rapper and his former girlfriend, Shaniqua Tompkins, have reached a settlement in their ongoing and bitter custody dispute over 11-year-old son Marquise, announcing this morning they have managed to broker a visitation schedule outside of court, thus avoiding the burden of a high-profile trial.

"I'm happy it's actually done with," Fiddy told reporters outside the Suffolk Family Court of the deal, despite the fact that it grants him less visitation time with the boy than he originally sought.

During this morning's five-minute hearing, in which both the rapper and Thompson were present, but avoided eye or any other contact, lawyers disclosed that 50 Cent will see his son one weekend per month, one month in the summer and spend half his winter and spring breaks in his father's custody.

Connecticut Says Mandatory Parenting Classes Allowable

A state law requiring Connecticut couples to take parenting education courses as a condition of their divorce cases is constitutional and protects children's interests, the state Supreme Court ruled Monday.

The high court, in a unanimous ruling, rejected an appeal by Bristol resident Thomas Dutkiewicz stemming from his 2006 divorce.

Dutkiewicz said forcing parents to attend the classes is akin to convicting a person without a trial, since the law does not consider whether a person already is a good parent.

He also said it infringes on constitutional guarantees of freedom of choice in family matters and violates parents' right to choose what is best for their children.

The Supreme Court upheld a trial court's decision that the classes achieve "a compelling state interest by aiming to maintain familial harmony through a difficult transition."

North Dakota Child Custody Reform?

Existing child custody laws in North Dakota do not work as well as they could.

Divorce is most often hard. And the more the divorce is a matter for the court, given our adversarial legal system, the harder it becomes to have a good solution. That seems especially the case when it concerns the children of divorce.

Of course, there are couples who have divorced who have acted responsibly toward their children. They may be in the majority. However, in those occasions where a child or children become the focus of passionate, even obsessive, disagreement between parents, then something must be done.

Ideally, the laws and regulations that guide families through divorce should treat all parties fairly, within reason, with the needs of any children in the family considered first and foremost. These laws and regulations should be humane. Compassionate, yet firm and frank.

The Legislature’s Judicial Process Committee has endorsed changes in the state’s child custody laws that do much to improve the existing situation. The proposal originated with a North Dakota State Bar Association task force. When lawmakers arrive in January to do their work, this reform of child custody should be a high priority.

Sharon Stone Schooled in Custody Deal

Sharon Stone's son will remain a Frisco kid for the time being.

A San Francisco court's ruling that Roan, Stone's 8-year-old son with ex-husband Phil Bronstein, should continue to live in the Bay Area with his father is not a refutation of Stone's custody rights—rather, it's only an order mandating that Roan stay in his current elementary school, according to Stone's attorney.

Despite a judge's statement that Bronstein "shall have permanent sole physical custody," Stone still retains joint physical and legal custody of Roan, per their original agreement filed on Oct. 4, 2007, attorney Martin Singer told E! News Tuesday.

What happened was, the judge denied Stone's request to have Roan attend school in Los Angeles, saying the child was to “permanently stay in San Francisco,” Singer added.

Dead-Broke Deads and the Challenges to Parenting

“Deadbeat Dads” has been the headliner of multiple stories in multiple newspapers for decades. Cook County launched “Operation Father’s Pay”; Butler County in Ohio put faces of these so called deadbeats on pizza boxes; and the Los Angeles County District Attorney announced their “Most Wanted Delinquent Parent” list. Several other states have begun similar campaigns to collect on un-paid child support. All of these humiliating campaigns launched against these fathers would have us believe that the men targeted are insensitive deadbeats who are selfishly stiffing their children; however, research contradicts this.

The fact that many of these types of campaigns struggle to come up with alleged “deadbeats” who have an education or a middle-class job might give less zealous public officials cause to stop and pause. Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement data shows that two-thirds of those behind on child support nationwide earn poverty level wages; less than four percent of the national child support debt is owed by those earning $40,000 or more a year. According to the largest federally-funded study of divorced dads ever conducted, unemployment, not willful neglect, is the largest cause of failure to pay child support.

The “Most Wanted Deadbeat Parents” lists that are put out clearly illustrate this problem. Far from being lists of well-heeled businessmen, lawyers, and accountants, the vast majority of the men on these lists do low wage and often seasonal work, and owe large sums of money which they could never hope to pay off. Even a person with a college degree is a rare find on these lists. Nevertheless, the powers that be who create these lists say that the men on the lists are singled out for their “ability to pay”.

Virginia’s “Most Wanted” list was topped by a laborer, a carnival hired hand, and a construction worker. These men collectively somehow owed over a quarter of a million dollars in child support. A plumber topped the Texas “most wanted” list as the highest wage earner. Kentucky’s list sported only one obligor with an education, and the most common designation for occupation was “laborer.” Near the top of Arizona’s list was a maintenance man who owed $90,223 and, best of all, a roofer who owed $240,581. One wonders what the financial condition of those who weren’t “singled out” for their ability to pay is.

'PARAMOURS' OFTEN SEEN AS PROBLEM

In Family Court, they are called "paramours," and they can play a major role in child custody cases.
Live-in boyfriends are eyed suspiciously, children's advocates and attorneys say because they are often the most dangerous person a child encounters.
Judges frown on unmarried couples living together so much that some have been known to invoke the state's 200-year-old fornication law to encourage a single mother to avoid allowing a boyfriend to stay at her house.
Often, she says, the death of a child comes at the hands of an adult caregiver who is not related to the victim. What police say occurred in the Hillerby case is nearly identical to a 2007 St. George case. Donald Joseph Mauldin last year was sentenced to 50 years for killing his live-in girlfriend's 3-year-old daughter.
"A lot of live-in boyfriends don't have the affection or the bond with a child, and no experience as a parent," Ralston says. "We have found that the risk to children increases when they are exposed to multiple adults."
And it is even worse when that is a person who doesn't understand a child's behavior, or how fragile they are.
"They may even feel jealous of the relationship the child has with its mother," Ralston said.
Some states have even considered harsh penalties against parents who move in with a lover. In Iowa, the state legislature has considered a law that could cost a parent custody of her children if she allows a boyfriend to move in. Iowa lawmakers say 26 percent of child deaths in that state between 1995 and 2000 involved live-in lovers.

BALDWIN LASHES OUT AT DIVORCE LAWYERS

Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger's cutthroat custody battle over their 12-year-old daughter, Ireland, has made international headlines for years. The couple divorced in 2002 after nine years of marriage, but the vicious accusations on both sides continued, culminating in the infamous 2007 voice-mail message in which Baldwin berated his daughter.
In an interview with ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer, Baldwin, 50, spoke about his lengthy court struggles with Basinger, 54, and said that when the voice mail was released, it brought him to the brink of suicide.
"I used to pray to God every night. I would get in bed, and I would say, please, don't let me wake up in the morning," Baldwin said. "I began to think about what little town I would repair to in order to commit suicide. And then you, obviously you say, well, what would that do to my child if I killed myself? Me, I really didn't care about me."
After the media storm and new round of custody litigation that followed the voice mail release, Baldwin nearly broke his own promise to never give up on his daughter. Deterred by the barriers that he believes his ex-wife imposed on his relationship with Ireland, Baldwin said he almost lost the will to keep fighting.
"I don't care if the judges and the lawyers die of heart attacks in the process of getting their job done. They are corrupt, inefficient, lazy, stupid -- they're the most God-awful people."
Baldwin believes that many family court lawyers and their manipulations and delays make the child custody duel much worse than it needs to be. "The judges are like pit bosses in Vegas casinos. Their job is to make sure everybody stays at the table and keeps gambling."
Baldwin's clashed with Basinger for nearly eight years: there are hundreds of documents, 91 court proceedings so far, and about $3 million in legal costs.

Tennessee to Revoke Hunting, Fishing Licenses of Deadbeat Parents

The state is warning parents delinquent on child support payments that they risk losing drivers licenses, professional licenses and hunting and fishing licenses if they don't pay.

A news release from the Department of Human Services Tuesday says letters are being delivered to parents across the state behind at least $500 and haven't made a payment in more than 90 days.

More than 7,000 licenses were revoked last year for failure to pay, and there are more than 20,000 licenses currently at risk. Professional licenses that could be revoked include those of registered nurses, real estate agents, security guards and teachers.

Parents can prevent revocation if they contact their local child support offices to set up payment plans or simply repay the past due amounts.

Couple Wins Damages in Messy Custody Battle

An American woman who badmouthed her former husband and his new wife during a custody battle, claiming they abused drugs, and had paedophilic tendencies, has been ordered to pay R150 000 in damages to the couple by the Pretoria High Court.

Judge Chris Botha ordered that the man receive R100 000, and his wife R50 000. The Midrand couple claimed a total of R600 000 in damages - R300 000 each.

The parties are not being identified to protect their 13-year-old daughter, who is the subject of their bitter custody battle.

The court heard that after their divorce, the mother at first had custody of their child. The father later obtained custody and the mother moved to the US with her new husband in 2004. The daughter often visited her there.

When the child visited her in June 2005 the mother decided not to send the child back. She obtained an interim custody order, without the knowledge of the father, from a court in New York.

This was the start of a lengthy legal battle between the two, both in South Africa and in the US.

Custody Battle In Japan Highlights Loophole in Child Abduction Cases

Shane Clarke had no reason to be suspicious when his wife took their two children to Japan to see their ill grandmother in January.

The couple had married four years earlier after meeting online, and settled down with their daughters, aged three and one, in the west Midlands. Clarke, they agreed, would join his family in Japan in May for a holiday, and they would all return together.

Last week, however, he faced his wife and her lawyer in a Japanese courtroom, uncertain if he would ever see his children again. When his wife left the UK, Clarke now believes, she never had any intention of returning with him, or of letting her children see him.

"From the moment I met her at Narita airport I knew something was wrong," Clarke told the Guardian before a custody hearing in Mito, north of Tokyo. "I soon realised she'd played me like a grand piano. The whole thing had been orchestrated," he claims.

Clarke, a 38-year-old management consultant from West Bromwich, has gone to great lengths to win custody. The Crown Prosecution Service said his wife could be prosecuted in the UK under the 1984 child abduction act.

However, he can expect little sympathy from Japanese courts, which do not recognise parental child abduction as a crime and habitually rule in favour of the custodial - Japanese - parent.

PA Lawmaker Fighting $25 Child Support Fee

Some Pennsylvania families who need the government's help to collect child support received unwelcome news in the mail this summer: They must now help defray the cost of that service.

The Department of Public Welfare has sent out notices informing parents it will deduct a $25 annual fee from child support payments to custodial parents who receive at least $2,000 a year and who have never received cash assistance welfare benefits.

As small as that may seem, Rep. Kate Harper considers it a big deal for single parents who struggle to feed, clothe and shelter their children—and an outrage for the government to take any money intended to fulfill a child's basic needs.

"These people are taxpayers—this is their own money," said Harper, R-Montgomery. "This is one parent paying to another parent for the benefit of their children."

The fee is collected on a per-case basis, meaning that parents with more than one child-support case in Pennsylvania will pay the fee for each case.

Harper hopes the outcry from affected parents will be loud enough to prompt her colleagues to support legislation she introduced last month to repeal the fee. But persuading Democrats who control the House to revisit the issue in an election-shortened fall session will be a tough sell.

18 ADDITIONAL FLDS CHILDREN RELEASED FROM COURT SUPERVISION

Texas child welfare authorities have filed to remove 18 more FLDS children out from under court supervision.
The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services said Thursday it filed 18 nonsuits with a San Angelo judge overseeing the child custody case involving children taken in the raid on the Fundamentalist LDS Church's YFZ Ranch.
That makes 286 cases that have been nonsuited, said Child Protective Services spokesman Patrick Crimmins. The number includes 26 "disputed minors," whom CPS believed were children but later conceded were adults.
CPS said 439 children were taken into state protective custody during the April raid. The agency recently revised its count, reducing the total number by one, based on more accurate numbers as the nation's largest child custody case drags on.
A nonsuit ends court jurisdiction over the child, freeing the families from court orders such as parenting classes, availability for CPS investigators and a requirement to remain in Texas. However, CPS has said in many cases they could still have some level of involvement with the families.
Hundreds of children were placed in state custody when law enforcement and CPS caseworkers responded to the Utah-based polygamous sect's Eldorado property, based on a phone call alleging abuse and neglect.

50 CENT TO ATTEND COURT FOR CHILD CUSTODY

50 Cent is to appear in court next month, to try and win custody of his 11-year-old son Marquis.
The rapper has been battling for custody against his former girlfriend Shaniqua Tompkins for the last few months. Now a hearing will be held on October 22 at the New York Family Court.
During their legal battle, Tompkins suggested 50 Cent - real name Curtis Jackson - was involved with a fire that damaged her home back in May. The rap star has denied having anything to do with it.
Until the court date, Jackson has been granted weekend visitation rights - allowing him to see Marquis every other weekend until the trial starts.

50 CENT DEFENDS LIMITED CUSTODY REQUESTS

Rapper 50 Cent has defended his child custody requests, insisting he only wants visitation ever other weekend because he wants minimum disruption to his son's education.

The 'In Da Club' hitmaker has been embroiled in a legal battle with his ex-girlfriend Shaniqua Tompkins over custody of 11-year-old Marquise for months, and now the former couple's legal spat will go before a judge on Monday.

50 Cent - real name Curtis Jackson - was reunited with Marquise last month after he accused Tompkins of "kidnapping" their son following a devastating fire at her New York home in May.

The star, who lives in Connecticut, has since been criticised for his request to spend just two weekends a month with Marquise - but the rapper insists he's simply taking his kid's schooling seriously.

Nudist Denied Visits with Grandchildren

Even nudists say their lifestyle is not for everyone.

But the residents of one nudist community in Pasco County says a contractor for the Florida Department of Children and Family Services overstepped its legal authority when it denied placement of two girls in Lake Como.

Lake Como is home to 500 people, few of whom wear clothes around the neighborhood. This spring, one of the residents got a court order granting weekend visits with her two grandchildren at Lake Como. The children's mother lost her parental rights because of several arrests and stints in jail.

On the eve of the girls' first weekend, a case worker for Eckerd Community Alternatives blocked the placement.

Custody Battle Erupts at School

Two Clarkston parents were arrested Wednesday, after a custody fight over their child spilled over into the classroom.

The two were taken into custody at around 12:30 p.m. Clarkston police said a separated couple encountered each other at the beginning of the afternoon kindergarten session at Parkway Elementary School.

Police said it was a verbal argument, but according to witness reports, at one point, they were physically pulling the child in both directions. Those witnesses said the classroom was cleared as a school resource officer responded and made the arrests. The two were cited for Disorderly Conduct and Disturbing School Activities, then released from police custody.

3 Pony Rule Cuts Strahan's Child Support

Former New York Giants defensive end Michael Strahan on Tuesday won his appeal from an $18,000-a-month child support obligation imposed in his 2006 divorce, which a New Jersey appellate court found both exorbitant and unfairly apportioned against him.

The court, in Strahan v. Strahan, A-3747-06, said that the trial judge failed to make the specific findings of fact necessary to sustain his decision to add $200,000 a year to the $35,984 annual award that the couple's twins girls are due under statutory guidelines.

While acknowledging there are unique problems with determining the reasonable needs of children of high-earning families, the court said trial judges should nevertheless avoid overindulgence -- citing the doctrine of In re Patterson, 920 P.2d 450 (Kan. App. 1996), that "no child, no matter how wealthy the parents, needs to be provided [with] more than three ponies."

The court also found error in the trial judge's saddling of Strahan with 91 percent of the child support obligation, especially since the judge did not impute any income to Strahan's former wife, Jean, even though she is college-educated and capable of working but has voluntarily chosen not to do so.

International Custody Battle Resolved

A sharply divided Vermont Supreme Court on Friday waded into a long-running international custody dispute, reversing a Vermont Family Court decision and giving jurisdiction in the case to a Canadian court.

The 3-2 decision reverses a 2002 ruling by Judge John Wesley in Bennington that gave custody of a son born to a Bennington couple to the father and ruled that a Canadian court was right to give the mother custody of the child.

The mother in 2003 obtained her own child custody order in Canada, where she had fled after claiming her ex-husband had abused her and threatened to harm her and their son. She was convicted in federal court last year of kidnapping her son.

"This is one of those rare cases where the best interests of the child must take precedence over the policy goal of deterring parental wrongdoing," Justice Marilyn Skoglund, writing for the high court's majority, said in the decision. "Canada was the more appropriate forum to resolve this matter."

In a stinging dissent, Justice Brian Burgess said the majority's ruling sends the wrong message to parents unhappy with court custody decisions.

Divorce: Fighting For, About, and Around Kids

Actions for divorce are like any other civil suit wherein the rights and duties of parties are decided and judgment is rendered. That is, aside from the fact that at the end of the case, both sides are still really mad.

There are exceptions, but the general rule is that if a judge or magistrates decides the outcome of who gets custody of the kids and on what days, everyone feels cheated. Dissolutions, which are simply divorces where the parties agree how to divide everything prior to filing in court, are always preferable but often impossible in the emotionally charged time of separation.

The legal issues of property settlement in a divorce, apart from alimony, are fairly cut and dry - everything acquired during the marriage that is not a gift or devise directly to one of the spouses gets divided in half. Problems deal mainly in valuations. For the calculation of alimony, it seems to matter more where you are getting a divorce than to whom you were married - it varies county to county.

Dividing a child is obviously more difficult. The wisdom of King Solomon is often needed and absolutely inadmissible in divorce court. (Solomon's proposal to halve the child really wasn't all that clever - what kind of hooligan would actually agree to cut the child in half in front of someone who was in the process of writing a book of the Bible? I think everyone already knew the likely outcome of it all when the retrobate showed up to the hearing with her face all exposed wearing a worn-out Ravi Shankar concert T-shirt.)

Custody Fight Continues Over Ex-Lesbian's Child

The battle continues between a homosexual activist and her former lesbian partner over who will control the now heterosexual, Christian woman's biological daughter. It's the latest twist in a complicated story.

Lisa Miller is a former lesbian who became a Christian, left the homosexual lifestyle, and took her biological daughter with her. Miller's former partner, Janet Jenkins, has been using a since-dissolved Vermont civil union to try to claim parental rights to Miller's daughter. Earlier this week, a Virginia civil court ruled that Jenkins must go to juvenile and domestic relations court to seek enforcement of a Vermont visitation order.

Attorney Mat Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel, is representing Miller in her efforts to protect her six-year-old daughter. He says the former Vermont civil union should be rendered meaningless in Virginia's courts by Virginia's 2007 marriage protection amendment.

Custody Fight Continues Over Ex-Lesbian's Child

The battle continues between a homosexual activist and her former lesbian partner over who will control the now heterosexual, Christian woman's biological daughter. It's the latest twist in a complicated story.

Lisa Miller is a former lesbian who became a Christian, left the homosexual lifestyle, and took her biological daughter with her. Miller's former partner, Janet Jenkins, has been using a since-dissolved Vermont civil union to try to claim parental rights to Miller's daughter. Earlier this week, a Virginia civil court ruled that Jenkins must go to juvenile and domestic relations court to seek enforcement of a Vermont visitation order.

Attorney Mat Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel, is representing Miller in her efforts to protect her six-year-old daughter. He says the former Vermont civil union should be rendered meaningless in Virginia's courts by Virginia's 2007 marriage protection amendment.

16-Yr.-Old To Pay Child Support To 19-Yr.-Old Mom Who Allegedly Sexually Assaulted Him

It's a situation fraught with so many twists and turns that if you saw it on a movie screen you might not believe it.

It began when a 19-year-old girl from the town of Lancaster, Ohio was accused of molesting a 15-year-old boy. Jane Crane was allowed to stay at the child's Columbus-area home when allegations surfaced that her stepfather was being abusive.

But something apparently clicked between the girl and the underage son of those providing her temporary refuge. She's since been charged with unlawful sexual conduct, after allegedly having physical relations at least twice with the underage boy.

So far, the story is somewhat sad, but not that unusual.

But here's where it takes an odd turn. The teen became pregnant as a result of the encounter and paternity tests prove the boy is the father of the little girl, who was born in late April.

Gloves Are Off in Aussie's 007 Custody Battle

Australia's James Bond, George Lazenby, has cranked up his bitter child custody battle with estranged wife, former tennis champion Pam Shriver.

Queanbeyan-born Lazenby, who played 007 in On Her Majesty's Secret Service in 1969, has asked the US judge handling the case to order psychological tests on himself and Shriver to determine if they are fit to be parents.

"He wants it because he has nothing to lose," Lazenby's lawyer Marina Korol said.

The couple, who have three children, four-year-old George and two-year-olds twins, Kaitlin and Samuel, have waged a public war in the past week.

Lazenby, in court papers filed yesterday, accused Shriver of consuming "a cocktail of prescription painkillers, Ambien sleeping pills and rum or vodka each night and during the day".

Shriver, who won 22 Grand Slam doubles titles with Martina Navratilova, has alleged her husband of six years offered beer to their children, was anti-Semitic and threatened to kill her.

Scenarios Behind Hiring A California Child Custody Lawyer

Divorce is regarded as one of the most horrible things that may happen to a couple, especially if a misunderstanding is not resolved immediately. Many individuals are filing their petition for divorce with their respective partners because they cannot resolve their differences anymore. They feel that they cannot stand with each other living under the same roof anymore; they are just uncomfortable seeing and being with each other.

Aside from the legal procedure that needs to be followed, the family is also experiencing emotional distress. The atmosphere will not be as friendly as before, because such divorce petition means separation-one moving out of the house while the other will remain. In addition, if they have children, their custody will also be a subject for argument in the family court. That is the saddest part of a couple filing for a divorce-giving the children to whoever has the better right under the family law.

In the case of child custody, many divorcing couples are getting a child custody lawyer aside from the divorce lawyer for their petition. Most of the states in the country have their own regulations with regards to family law. In California, they have their own set of regulations that applies to child custody cases. That is why if you are residing in California and planning to get hold of the custody of your children in case your husband or wife filed a divorce, you need to hire a California-based child custody lawyer.

Your child custody lawyer will be your representative in California family courts. He or she will be the one to explain to you the possibilities of getting the custody of your children based on the circumstances present as well as the laws and regulations covering child custody issues.

Custody Shopping

Child custody cases can get very messy if both parents are fighting for sole custody. But what if one parent is granted custody in one county, and another is granted custody in a different county?

It recently happened to an Encinitas man. Doug Rhodes told NBC 7/39 he became the victim of a legal loophole, called jurisdiction shopping.

"She's my life, you know. I love her more than anything in this world," Rhodes said about his 7-year-old daughter Katarissa.

He said he's spent thousands of dollars fighting in court for sole custody.

"To go back and forth, the chaos and confusion for my daughter, it's just been too much," Rhodes said.

After four years in court, a San Diego judge gave him full custody. The judge also gave Katarissa's mom, Stephani Bolton visitation rights on Sundays. But on July 8, Rhodes said all of that changed. When he went to pick up Katarissa at school, he was met by a San Diego County sheriff's deputy.

Judge Divides FLDS Child Cases

Nearly four months after the largest child-custody case in U.S. history commenced, Texas 51st District Judge Barbara Walther has broken it up, leaving 234 separate cases involving the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Walther split Case No. 2902 - which included more than 300 children - into 110 cases grouped by mother, and Case 2903, which included more than 30 children, into nine cases, also grouped by mother. They join 115 cases filed separately by the state's Child Protective Services agency, which removed nearly 440 children from the sect's Schleicher County compound in early April.

"This is something we've known all along needs to be done," said Tom Green County District Court clerk Vicki Vines. "Nobody had a good enough grasp on it (until now). Everybody's got it a little more under control."

Lesbian's Children To Be Returned To UK

An Ontario judge has ruled that a woman who fled to Canada from the United Kingdom with her two adopted daughters must return with them to allow her former lesbian partner full access to the children under what amounts to a joint custody agreement.

Justice Jennifer Mackinnon, of Ontario Superior Court, ordered Connie Springfield to return to England with her two daughters, 8 and 6, whom she adopted with her long-time partner Sarah Courtney six years ago. Ms. Springfield had spirited the two children to Canada late last year in what the judge called a "long thought out, deceptive method of her removal of the children."

The lesbian couple had broken up five years earlier and had, apparently amicably, continued to share custody of the children until Ms. Springfield took them on what was supposed to be a visit to family members in Ottawa last December, but which she acknowledged planning for some time as a permanent move.

Parents Lose Custody of Girl For Naming Her Talula Does the Hula From Hawaii

A nine-year-old girl whose parents named her Talula Does the Hula From Hawaii was put into court guardianship in New Zealand so that her name could be changed.

A family court judge, Rob Murfitt, gave the order after hearing that the child was embarrassed about her name and had refused to reveal it to friends. "She told people her name was K because she feared being mocked and teased," the child's lawyer, Colleen MacLeod, told the court.

The judge criticised parents who give their offspring bizarre names, saying it exposed children to ridicule among their peers.

"The court is profoundly concerned about the very poor judgment that this child's parents have shown in choosing this name. It makes a fool of the child and sets her up with a social disability and handicap, unnecessarily," he said.

Dad Sold Drugs to Win Child's Custody

A father who agreed to sell over €10,000 worth of cannabis to try and raise a deposit for a flat so that he could get custody of his daughter has been jailed.

Jude Sherlock (36) and his partner lived in their car for two months before Sherlock agreed to sell the drugs in the hope of getting a flat.

He appeared before Judge Desmond Hogan at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

"It was not a long-term enterprise. He did it to get himself and his partner on stable ground," defence counsel Laurence Masterson told the court.

Spears, Federline Settle Custody Battle

Pop singer Britney Spears and ex-husband Kevin Federline have settled their long and bitter custody battle over their two sons, but terms of the deal remained confidential.

Federline's attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan told several media organisations late on Thursday that Federline retained sole custody of Sean Preston, two and a half, and Jayden James, 22 months, but outside a Los Angeles courthouse following a closed hearing on Friday, he declined to discuss custodial issues.

"I'm not going to comment on the terms of an agreement that has not yet been made an order of the court," Kaplan said.

Child Support Spies to Watch Parents

Private investigators will be used by the Child Support Agency (CSA) to spy on parents who are not meeting their child support payments.

The Federal Government says the new measures would help the CSA collect outstanding debts of $1 billion from the current financial year.

Human Services Minister Joe Ludwig said a small proportion of parents was not doing the right thing.

Our View on Protecting Children: Texas Custody Case Collapses, Leaving Damage in its Wake

Imagine that state agents raided your home and seized your children along with more than 400 of your neighbors' kids. The reason, you were told, was suspicion of child abuse, but the authorities produced scant evidence involving your child. Imagine further that after a series of hearings, the children were shipped off to foster families while courts sorted matters out.

That is essentially what has transpired in Texas over the past two months, though outrage was minimal and suspicion high because the parents were members of a reclusive polygamist sect.

Sharing Parents the Best Answer

The North Dakota Legislature held a meeting March 16 to hear issues relating to the child custody study.

The study committee was given a directive by the Legislative Council to only study other states' custody practices. This is not the directive passed by the Legislature, stating that the study was to cover custody, visitation and child support problems in the state of North Dakota.

Family Court Justice Committee Says Wait Times Still Most Pressing Issue

Family court judges could be contributing to the system backlog by not listening to testimony, or reading documents filed with the court, resulting in further delays, a new report by the Family Court Justice Committee suggests.

The six-member committee, comprised of lawyers, family counselors and single mothers, also worries decisions are not being based on all of the facts.

It recommends the province's family court judges be subjected to reviews by an independent judicial commission to ensure the rights of children are protected, due process is adhered to, and that no gender or other biases are present.

Court Staff Overwhelmed in YFZ Child Custody Cases

A task force of volunteer lawyers traveled to San Angelo to assist in the YFZ Ranch child protection cases, the Texas Supreme Court press office reported April 18.

The volunteers were in San Angelo for an April 17 custody hearing concerning the 416 children taken from YFZ Ranch, a polygamist settlement owned by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The church is not affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or the Mormon Church.

In early April, state agencies entered the ranch near Eldorado in Schleicher County and took the children into custody after an anonymous caller said she had been beaten and sexually abused at the site.

YFZ Ranch Kids to Stay in State Custody

The 416 children removed from the polygamist compound near Eldorado will stay in state custody for now, a judge ruled Friday night following a two-day hearing.

State District Judge Barbara Walther also ordered that the children undergo genetic testing to determine their parents and said the state will send a mobile lab to conduct the tests to the San Angelo Coliseum where the children are being kept.

Documents Showing Abuse Released in West Texas Polygamist Compound Case

Even more new details are emerging about alleged child abuse within the locked gates of the compound, and concerns have been raised for the past four years.

The primary reason being given is because until now everyone says their hands were tied. Rumors and speculation about alleged child physical and sexual abuse, underage marriages and holding people against their will inside the church are nothing new. They were raised four years ago in Eldorado and even more recently at the state capitol.

But until one 16-year old girl cried out officially for help just over a week ago, everyone says the same thing: they did not have probable cause to take action.

Pittsburgh Steelers' Najeh Davenport Acquitted In Domestic Case

Steelers' running back Najeh Davenport has been found by a jury not guilty Wednesday of all criminal charges filed against him in connection with a domestic violence incident stemming from a child custody issue.

A local jury composed of five women and three men has cleared the Steelers backup tailback last night of all three counts of demeanor. Davenport is charged with domestic violence, child endangerment and unlawful restraint stemming from a child custody dispute on Oct 4.

K-Fed Says He's on Full-Time Daddy Duty

Kevin Federline says he's been on full-time daddy duty since getting custody of his two toddler sons.

"I spend most of the day chasing my kids around the house," he tells In Touch Weekly magazine. "Their needs define my schedule every day."

Cross-Country Custody Tie

Seven-year-old Tatan (name changed) does not know which country’s law will decide whether he will live with his father or his mother.

Born in Pennsylvania, US, of Indian parents who later separated, the boy is at the centre of custody battles in both countries. And no one knows which verdict will hold.