Mama June Wins Lengthy Custody Battle for Granddaughter After Daughter's Death

Following a drawn-out court battle with her former son-in-law Michael Cardwell , Mama June Shannon has been awarded custody of her 12-year-old granddaughter Kaitlyn .

Court documents obtained by People showed that June was granted custody of Kaitlyn by a Georgia judge on Friday, Sept. 20. Kaitlyn is the daughter of June's eldest daughter, Anna 'Chickadee' Cardwell , who tragically passed away at the age of 29 from stage 4 adrenal carcinoma in December 2023. At that time, Michael filed to regain custody and visitation of his stepdaughter. (Kaitlyn was Anna's daughter from a previous relationship.) Michael and Anna shared an 8-year-old daughter, Kylee , who remains in his custody.

In the ruling, a judge wrote that while Kaitlyn did sometimes spend as much as five weeks at a time with Michael while visiting Kylee, he "never provided any significant financial support" for Kaitlyn. The documents also stated that Kaitlyn was afraid of "being taken away from" her grandmother and "expressed a desire to stay" with her, according to a family therapist.

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When Michael claimed in his original filings that June and Anna had a strained relationship and that Kaitlyn and Kaylee shouldn't be separated, June accused Michael of being abusive to Anna while they were married, arguing that Kaitlyn would be better off living with her. (Michael denied the allegations.)

Before her death, Anna expressed an interest in having her husband Eldridge Toney gain custody of both of her daughters. Anna and Eldridge started dating in 2017 after her divorce from Michael and tied the knot in March 2023 following her cancer diagnosis.

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