Sources say that more-and-more men are seeking child custody and child support than ever before. Some of the change may be attributed to changes in household structures in recent years. Last year, the Pew Research Center said that 40 percent of American households with a child under the age of 18 include a mother as the sole or primary breadwinner. Other research shows a dramatic increase in fathers asserting their rights in child support and custody disputes in family court.
People from all walks of life who decide to divorce may deal with custody, visitation and support issues. Celebrity sightings in family court news seem fairly commonplace, but may shed light on the issues that people in Texas may face in family court. For instance, a child support or custody issue may arise between people who never married.
Our Dallas area readers may be aware that actress Halle Berry had a child with her former boyfriend roughly six years ago. Since that time, Berry married another man, and child custody issues between Berry and her former boyfriend erupted.
Berry at one point sought to relocate to France with her daughter. A family court judge ruled that the child could not make the move in a custody dispute between Berry and her former boyfriend, Gabriel Aubry. The two have joint custody of the child. A child support issue was left unresolved until recently.
The family court judge presiding in the child support issue has ordered Berry to pay $16,000 per month to her former boyfriend in support of the ex-couple’s 6-year-old child. The order includes an additional payment for back support and lawyer’s fees in the dispute.
Source: Time, “Halle Berry Ordered to Pay Almost $200K Per Year in Child Support,” Eliana Dockterman, June 10, 2014