Mama June Shannon has won custody over her granddaughter, the child of her late daughter Anna “Chickadee” Cardwell. Per court documents obtained by People, the reality television star was awarded custody of 12-year-old Kaitlyn Cardwell by a Georgia judge on Friday, September 20, after a lengthy custody battle with her former son-in-law Michael Cardwell. He is not Kaitlyn’s biological father but started dating Anna in 2013 when the child was only 8 months old.
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Michael initially filed to regain custody and visitation.
In December 2023, Michael filed to regain custody and visitation of his stepdaughter, according to People. This was after Anna died on December 9, 2023, of stage 4 cancer. She left behind Kaitlyn and her and Michael’s 8-year-old daughter, Kylee.
Kaitlyn's therapist testified.
Kaitlyn’s therapist testified during the custody battle, saying that the 12-year-old “fears being taken away from” Shannon and “expressed a desire to stay” with her grandmother. The judge also wrote in the ruling that although Kaitlyn sometimes spent time with her sister while in Michael’s custody and stayed with him for as long as five weeks at a time within the past year, he “never provided any significant financial support” for her.
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Michael was also denied visitation.
“Legal and physical custody of the minor child is to remain with the Defendant [Shannon] and Plaintiff [Michael] will have no right to visitation as such, unless otherwise expressly agreed to by the parties and the minor child,” the ruling read.
Michael’s initial filing argued that Anna’s daughters shouldn’t be separated. He also claimed that Shannon and Anna had a difficult relationship, which is why he believed it made more sense for Kaitlyn to be with him.
Mama June claims he was abusive.
Mama June claimed that Michael had been abusive toward Anna during their marriage, as reported by In Touch. “During his marriage to Anna, [Michael] frequently physically abused Anna and the child and it would not be in the child’s best interests to be in [Michael’s] care and control,” the petition read.
Michael denied the abuse allegations.
According to his lawyer, Donald Lewis Roberts, Michael denied the abuse claims. “This is the first time that any of these allegations have been made against him. He and Anna had a great relationship when they were married and simply separated due to differences in opinions and personalities,” he said.
“They managed to get along throughout the divorce as well and had maintained a good relationship with his family and him,” the lawyer added. “They’ve always stuck together for their children, and we will see what proof Ms. Shannon has for these types of claims, these very serious claims, to make on somebody — if she has any proof at all.”
