Mama June Shannon Wins Custody of Anna Cardwell’s Daughter Kaitlyn

Almost a year after his daughter Anna “Chickadee” Cardwelldie you Miss June Shannon officially awarded custody of granddaughter Kaitlyn.

According to court documents obtained by Us WeeklyThe judge ruled in favor of Shannon, 45, on Saturday, September 20, giving full custody to the 12-year-old after a long legal battle with his ex-husband Anna, Michael Cardwell. (In Touch the first to report the news.)

Michael – whose relationship with Anna began in 2013, when Kaitlyn was 8 months old – filed to regain visitation and custody of the preteen after Anna’s death in December 2023. In response to his request, Shannon filed her own “emergency ex parte” and was granted temporary custody of Kaitlyn in that month.

At the time, Shannon noted in her custody filing that the identity of Kaitlyn’s father remained “unknown,” acknowledging that it was in her granddaughter’s best interest to remain with him.

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Anna and Michael also share their 8-year-old daughter Kylee. In Friday’s ruling, the judge found that Michael “never provided significant financial support” to Kaitlyn, even though he stayed with her “for five weeks of each year last year.”

The family therapist also admitted that Kaitlyn expressed “fear” about being “taken” from her grandmother and expressed a “desire to stay” with Shannon, according to the document.

Michael previously claimed in the petition that he believed that Anna’s two daughters should not be separated, alleging that Shannon had a strained relationship with his eldest daughter. Shannon, for her part, claimed that Michael “physically abused Anna” when they were married from 2014 to 2017. Both parties reportedly denied the allegations made against them.

According to the judge’s latest ruling, Michael “does not have visitation rights, unless expressly agreed upon by the parties and the minor.”

Anna was diagnosed with stage IV adrenal carcinoma in January 2023, and Shannon stayed by her daughter’s side throughout her health battle. In July 2023, Shannon told Entertainment Tonight that Anna’s cancer is terminal. He died less than six months ago at the age of 29.

“It is with a heavy heart that we announce that @annamarie35 is no longer with us,” Shannon wrote via Instagram in December 2023. “She passed away peacefully at my home last night at 11:12. She fought for 10 months… We love you and Please continue to pray and think for the family who are doing this during this difficult time.

Before she was officially given custody, Shannon exclusively spoke with us about the responsibility of raising Anna’s children. (Shannon is also the mother of a daughter Jessica27, Lauryn24, and Alana19.)

“I will say until my last breath, I shouldn’t have raised Kaitlyn and Michael shouldn’t have raised Kylee and should have been here raising the girls, point blank,” Shannon said. us in June, he was listening to discuss who will take over the guardianship was “the most difficult conversation” he had with Anna.

Shannon explained that she wishes Anna was still here to take care of her children, adding, “Life is not fair to girls. It’s not.”

When he died, Anna married Eldridge Toneywhom he started dating in 2017. They got married in March 2023 after learning of Anna’s diagnosis.