Biological Father of Mama June's Late Daughter Anna's 11-Year-Old Not Interested in Fighting For Custody
Feb. 22 2024, Published 9:30 a.m. ET
The custody battle between Mama June and the ex-husband of her late daughter Anna Cardwell heated up — with Anna’s ex-boyfriend being dragged into the fight.
According to court documents obtained by RadarOnline.com, Anna’s ex-husband Michael Cardwell served Anna’s ex-boyfriend Caleb Clark with notice of an upcoming hearing.
As we previously reported, Anna died on December 9, 2023, following a battle with cancer. She left behind two children: 11-year-old Kaitlyn and 8-year-old Kylee.
Michael is the father to Kylee. Following Anna’s death, he filed a petition seeking custody of Kaitlyn despite not being her biological father. He argued the two girls should be raised together. In his filing, Michael said he acted as a father to Kaitlyn when he was with Anna.
Since Anna’s death, Kaitlyn has lived with Mama June. A couple of weeks after Michael filed his petition, June filed a separate case demanding custody of the 11-year-old. She claimed to be the best person to care for the child.
June asked the court to dismiss Michael’s petition. She claimed Kylee would often not want to visit her father unless Kaitlyn came with her. June said “while Kaitlyn did sometimes accompany her sibling, the visits were infrequent. When [Michael] resided in Alabama, he only visited with Kaitlyn at most once per month, sometimes going three (3) months between visits.”
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The reality star objected to Michael’s claim she had a “sorted” relationship with Anna.
Her lawyer wrote, “Outside of one short period of disagreement, [June] and Anna had a stable parent-child relationship. Kaitlin has spent her childhood regularly seeing and spending time with [June]. On the other hand, [Michael] has been an inconsistent presence in the child’s life since at least 2017.”
In addition, June accused Michael of being physically abusive to her daughter and Kaitlyn.
“During his marriage to Anna, [Michael] frequently physically abused Anna and the child and it would not be in the child’s best interests to be in [Michael’s] care and control,” June’s response read.
Michael denied the claims.
His attorney Donald Lewis Roberts told RadarOnline.com, “Michael denies these allegations. This is the first time that any of these allegations have been made against him. He and Anna had a great relationship when they were married and simply separated due to differences in opinions and personalities.”
Now, RadarOnline.com has learned that Kaitlyn’s biological father Caleb Clark responded to being served with Michael’s notice of the upcoming hearing. Caleb told the court he agreed for the case to proceed without his involvement.
His filing said he "acknowledges services; waives Summons and Service; and notification of further proceedings." He said he "consents to the jurisdiction and venue of this Court and agrees to allow trial of this case without" his "presence."
In an amended petition, Michael claimed Caleb only met Kaitlyn once and had never taken a DNA test. He said Caleb had only one interaction with the minor child.
Mama June and Michael are set to face off at an upcoming court hearing. The court has yet to rule on custody.