As those who have been keeping up with the latest “Teen Mom 2” news know, Jenelle Evans recently went to court against her mother Barbara Evans regarding custody of her oldest son, Jace. According to Jenelle’s attorney Heather Kaemmer, Jenelle and her mother have finally reached a settlement – without having to go to trial.
The discretion of Barb
Previously, the custody order in place allowed Jenelle Evans to see her son at her mother's – who was the current guardian of Jace’s – discretion.
The biggest problem with this custody order was that, as everyone who watches the show knows, any time Barb got upset at Jenelle, her solution to the problem was to withhold Jace. Jenelle often complained about not getting to see her son for weeks at a time because her mother was throwing a tantrum over something she didn’t like.
The new order limits her mom’s power
With the new order, Jenelle Evans will have more rights to her son Jace. While the court did not give Jenelle full custody of her son as she wanted, they did make it so that her mother Barb was required to allow her more opportunities to see her son.
While Barb will still be the primary guardian of Jace, she is no longer able to dictate when and if Jenelle gets to spend some time with her seven-year-old. Now, the “Teen Mom 2” star will have scheduled visitation time with her son that her mother cannot control.
Jenelle has more rights now
With this new custody order, Jenelle also has the right to speak to medical and school personnel regarding the well-being of her son. Evans is also allowed to receive information directly from the school or doctors instead of having to get the information through her mother.
She kept her son in the dark
Jenelle made a decision to do the best she could to shield her son from the drama of a Custody Battle. While the battle is resolved for now, there is an opportunity for Jenelle to revisit the idea of her getting full custody of her son at a later time.
Evans has told PEOPLE that her son has asked her on a few different occasions when he would get to live with her and say said she responded with “maybe by summer time” without giving too much other information.
Most would assume that even though the new custody order gives Jenelle more rights, she plans to continue to push for full custody in the future. A lot of “Teen Mom 2” fans feel as though Jenelle has really grown up as a person and should be given back her son. Some also can’t help but wonder if Barb is going to honor the custody order and give Jace to Jenelle when she is supposed to. It certainly would make it easier for Jenelle to get her son back if her mother violates the new agreement at any point in time.