Pop superstar Madonna, now age 57, has four children, two of whom are adopted and two born from different fathers. She has been involved in an ongoing child custody battle over one son, whose father lives in another country. The singer recently appeared in a court outside Illinois to await a judge’s decision about whether her 15-year-old child would be permitted to remain abroad permanently, or be returned to her residence in the United States.
The boy’s father has remarried and has three other children with his current wife. The man’s attorney told the judge that Madonna’s son made it very clear that he wanted to stay with his father in Great Britain. He answered “effectively, yes” when the judge inquired as to whether the boy’s father was preventing the boy from returning to his mother.
Madonna’s former husband was not physically present in the courtroom. The judge then told the boy’s mother that he was granting her relief and ordered that the teen be brought back to the United States to be with her in New York. Such ongoing battles are not uncommon when parents feel differently about where a child should reside after divorce.
Legal intervention is available in Illinois that can help guide a parent through the negotiation process in order to amicably resolve custodial and/or visitation issues with another parent, keeping the child’s best interests as the central focus. When parents are unable to reach an agreement, the matter may be decided by the court. It is helpful for those facing such issues to remain open to compromise in pursuit of their child custody goals, while keeping the health and well-being of any children involved in the forefront.
Source: allmediany.com, “Madonna Caught in Custody Battle with Guy Ritchie“, Laura Tucker, Dec. 28, 2016
