Mama June Shannon has been granted full custody of her granddaughter — the 12-year-old daughter of the late Anna “Chickadee” Cardwell over whom the reality TV star has been fighting in court for a very long time.
According to court docs obtained by People over the weekend, the 45-year-old Here Comes Honey Boo Boo star has been granted full custody of Kaitlyn Cardwell by a Georgia judge. That decision was handed down in Wilkinson County in the southern state back on Friday. And this follows a very lengthy court battle in which Mama June was fighting with Chickadee’s ex Michael Cardwell over Kaitlyn’s fate.
Related: Mama June Has Lost 65 Lbs! See How She Did It!
As we’ve reported, Michael is not the child’s father. He began dating Chickadee back in 2013 when Kaitlyn was already eight months old. And after Anna died back in December of 2023 at just 29 years old following a grave diagnosis of stage four adrenal carcinoma, Kaitlyn’s fate went to the court. Michael had been fighting for visitation with Kaitlyn following Chickadee’s death — and then for custody, too. At the time of her death, Chickadee also left behind an 8-year-old daughter named Kylee, whom she shared with Michael.
In Friday’s ruling, the Wilkinson County-based judge asserted that while Kaitlyn did sometimes spend considerable time with her sister Kylee at various points, Michael never stepped up financially to help her out:
“[Michael] never provided any significant financial support for this child [Kaitlyn].”
To boot, the judge also noted how Kaitlyn “fears being taken away from” Mama June and “expressed a desire to stay” with her grandmother. To that end, the decision was simple for the court. Oh, and Michael does not receive any right to visitation, either! The judge wrote:
“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.”
Wow!
Now, Michael had been arguing that the late Anna’s two daughters shouldn’t be separated, and thus he ought to be granted custody of both to keep them together. But a court saw in Mama June’s favor back in January when they awarded her temporary custody of Kaitlyn, who was born in July of 2012. And now, a court has seen in Mama June’s favor for good with the full custody decision. Plus, without any legally-enforced visitation, this is a REALLY significant legal win for the From Not To Hot star.
Reactions, y’all?? Share ’em (below)…
[Image via WEtv/YouTube/Anna Cardwell/Instagram/Michael Cardwell/Instagram]
