Stories related to: child custody

Gossip hounds hoping for acrimonious divorce proceedings for Bill Murray aren't getting their wish, TMZ reports. The actor's divorce has already been settled, with papers signed June 13. Wife Jennifer Butler Murray, 42, gets custody of the four kids; Bill, 57, will have to pay child support. Jennifer, who also gets homes in California and South Carolina, had alleged that Murray was a sex-crazed, abusive drug addict. More »

A Texas judge ordered more than 400 children returned to their polygamist parents today, the AP reports. Parents could begin picking up their children at 10 this morning, but were ordered not to leave the state or interfere with ongoing child-abuse investigations. More »

Taking young children away from their parents has harmful effects, say mothers from the polygamist sect in Texas, and numerous studies agree—which is why federal and state guidelines require a “reasonable effort” to keep children with their parents before removing them. Texas authorities don't appear to have done so, mothers and experts say, in taking 468 children from YFZ ranch, the New York Times reports. More »

It was an obvious stunt by Texas child services: entering photos of Warren Jeffs kissing two "child brides" in a custody hearing for a newborn. Reeling from an appeals court ruling that they failed to show that 450 children were at risk, officials wanted to hype the "pervasive" abuse at Yearning for Zion. No surprise. The surprise, writes Rebecca Walsh in the Salt Lake Tribune, was that the young parents whose newborn was at issue actually helped the state's case. More »

Texas has agreed to return a dozen of the children in its custody to their parents, members of the polygamist sect FLDS, but the state is fighting to hang on to hundreds more, the San Antonio Express-News reports. The reunited families won't be allowed to return to the sect's Yearning for Zion ranch but can live in the San Antonio area under state supervision. More »

Yesterday's surprise court ruling in favor of a polygamous sect has Texas authorities scrambling, Time reports. An appeals judge ruled that the state had no right to seize children suspected of being sexually abused from the Yearning for Zion ranch. Officials now must appeal the ruling or return the children within 10 days More »

A Texas appeals court found today that authorities, acting on "no evidence," and supported only by a "general allegation" of impropriety, should not have removed more than 460 children from a polygamist compound, the Dallas Morning News reports. The panel also said a local court "abused its discretion" in authorizing an April 3 raid and ordered the children returned. More »

Hearings for the biggest child custody case in American history began yesterday and members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints weren't happy with proceedings, the AP reports. Parents of the more than 460 children in state custody complained that the court's recommendations were too generalized and showed them no clear way to get their kids back. More »

Three people were wounded yesterday when a gunman involved in a child custody battle opened fire on his ex-girlfriend at a church school festival in San Fernando Valley, reports the Los Angeles Times . Families ran screaming as the gunman nonchalantly lifted his rifle and began squeezing off rounds in front of his 9-year-old son. Two bystanders tackled him and held him for police. All three victims are in stable condition. More »

Mothers from the Yearning for Zion polygamist compound in Texas may have to distance themselves from their religion—or face not getting their children back, the Dallas Morning News reports. Texas officials have prepared a list of goals the women need to work toward to prove they can provide a home free from the risk of child sexual abuse—and the guidelines may be unworkable under the sect's communal living arrangements. More »

Pop princess Britney Spears will be seeing more of her two young sons, the AP reports. Dad Kevin Federline will retain custody, but a court yesterday extended Britney's visitations rights, a sign of the progress she has made since her father took over the singer's affairs. Federline's attorney, who did not reveal details of the new arrangement, said K-Fed "welcomes" his ex-wife's "progress and consistency." More »

Britney Spears attended a custody hearing today, and the scene at the courthouse was surprisingly calm, People reports. The singer looked distraught during a recess, but she appeared to be in higher spirits returning to the courtroom. Because she remains under the conservatorship of her father, the court is unlikely to give her custody of her two young sons, despite her recently improved behavior. More »

The women’s clothes from the Texas polygamist compound call to mind both Little House on the Prairie and prison garb. Yet there’s something elaborate, or even flamboyant, in the carefully crafted styles that set these women so distinctly at odds with modern culture, writes Robin Givhan in the Washington Post. In a sect that uses cell phones and sneakers, why not jeans and zippers? More »

The last of the 462 children removed from the compound of a polygamous sect have been placed in foster care in 16 locations around Texas, the Houston Chronicle reports. The caregivers have been given lengthy instructions on how to treat the children, including keeping them away from TV, radio, and the Internet, at least at first, and avoiding red clothing, as the sect believes that color is reserved for Jesus to wear on his return. More »

Britney Spears might be on the rebound, as the court-appointed custodianship of her father shepherds her back to her kids, the gym, and the recording studio, Reuters reports. Apart from a minor traffic accident, the pop star has been out of the news and out of the hospital, focusing instead on mending broken relationships. Even people paid to watch her are pleasantly surprised. More »

Texas officials begin taking DNA samples today from 416 children removed from a  polygamist sect and from adults who lived with them. The tests will be used to sort out the parentage of the children in the confusing mix of families with multiple mothers on the sprawling Eldorado ranch, reports the Houston Chronicle. More »

Britney Spears must pay nearly $400,000 to the lawyers who have been handling her affairs for the past three months, People magazine reports. Among the disbursements ordered by an LA court: $175,000 to the firm that won Spears' father control over the pop star's affairs, an arrangement that's in effect until at least July 31. More »

Troubled star Britney Spears' sons were happy to see their mommy yesterday, for the first time in more than seven weeks. Jayden James and Sean Preston, who have been in their father's custody during Spears' very public breakdown, got three hours of face time with their mom in a court-monitored visit, reports E! Online. More »

A judge has ruled that Britney Spears can see her kids again, E! Online reports. The singer hasn't been allowed visitation with her two young sons since she barricaded herself in a bathroom with 1-year-old Jayden on Jan. 3. K-Fed's lawyer said the star would be seeing her boys "very soon," but visits would have to happen in a "therapeutic setting," with Britney's dad and a psychiatrist present. More »

Britney Spears will get no help from LA's family court in dodging the paparazzi, People reports. The commissioner overseeing her custody case today declined her lawyers' request for a gag order. Spears' legal team had requested a media blackout because the hordes of photographers were "dangerous" to the troubled singer "physically and emotionally." More »