Mom June Shannon has been awarded custody of her daughter Anna “Chickadee” Cardwell’s daughter Kaitlyn after a long court battle with her ex-son-in-law Michael Cardwell.
According to court documents obtained by PEOPLE, Shannon was granted custody of his 12-year-old granddaughter by a Georgia judge on Friday, Sept. 20. InTouch was the first to publish the news.
The judge ruled that Here comes Honey Boo Boo star, 45, would get full custody of Kaitlyn after Michael — who is not the child’s father but began dating Anna in 2013 when Kaitlyn was 8 months old — filed to regain custody and visitation of his stepdaughter in December 2023.
Anna died at the age of 29 on December 9, 2023, after being diagnosed with stage 4 adrenal cancer. She is survived by Kaitlyn, whom she had from a previous relationship, and an 8-year-old daughter, Kylee, whom she shared with Michael.
Anna Cardwell (left) and her mother Mama June Shannon 2023 MEGA
Circuit Judge Wilkinson wrote in the ruling that although Kaitlyn sometimes spent time with her sister Kylee while in Michael’s custody and stayed with him for as many as five weeks over the past year, “[Michael] has never provided any significant financial support for this child [Kaitlyn].”
Additionally, court documents state that a family therapist testified that Kaitlyn “was afraid of being taken away from” Shannon and “expressed a desire to stay” with her grandmother.
“Legal and physical custody of the minor child remains with the defendant [Shannon] and the Prosecutor [Michael] shall not be entitled to visitation as such, unless the parties and the minor child expressly agree otherwise,” the judge wrote.
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Shannon was granted temporary custody of Kaitlyn earlier this year while the court case continues, InTouch reported.
In Michael’s first filings, he argued that Anna’s two daughters should not be separated and claimed that Shannon and Anna had a difficult relationship. In her lawsuit seeking custody of Kaitlyn, Shannon alleged that Michael abused Anna during their marriage and stated that it was in Kaitlyn’s best interest to continue living with her, per InTouch.
Michael’s lawyer denied the allegations of abuse, telling the outlet in a statement: “Michael denies the allegations. This is the first time any of these allegations have been made against him. He and Anna had a great relationship when they were married and just were separated due to differences in opinions and personalities.”
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Anna Cardwell with her children Kaitlyn and Kylee and husband Eldridge Toney.
Anna Cardwell Instagram
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Shannon has long been open about her desire to gain custody of Kaitlyn, even before Anna’s death. In the June 2024 episode of the series Mama June: Family crisiswhile Anna was in the middle of cancer treatment, Shannon told her daughter that she was worried about Kylee and Kaitlyn’s divorce.
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– Kaitlyn will be better with me, because there is stability – Shannon said, after Anna had previously expressed her desire for her husband Eldridge Toney to get custody of both girls. “But Eldridge has been in Kaitlyn’s life since she was about 5 years old. Honestly, she needs to put this s— on paper.”
Anna and Toney started dating in 2017 after her divorce from Michael. They married in March 2023, shortly after learning of Anna’s cancer diagnosis.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education