Family Law

In a 20-minute hearing yesterday, a judge ordered Levi Johnston to pay child support and some back payments for the care of Tripp, the 1-year-old son of him and Bristol Palin.

Back in November, Bristol, the daughter of former vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, filed a petition in accordance with Alaska law seeking sole custody of Tripp with visitation rights for

Johnston. The 19-year-old (then 17 years old) also requested $1, 7000 of child support a month from Johnston.

The judge eventually ruled that Johnston must pay $1, 688.42 a month in support, extending back to when the child was born in December 2008.

Bristol’s lawyer, Thomas Van Flein, told TMZ, “Bristol is pleased with the court rulings today and looks forward to resolving the remaining issues with Levi.”

Everyone’s sick of hearing about these two already. Johnston needs to take responsibility and pay his support and Bristol needs to move on. Enough is enough!

In December, Courtney Love lost temporary guardianship of her 17-year-old daughter Frances Bean, whose father is the late Kurt Cobain. Control of Frances was granted to Cobain’s mother Wendy O’Connor and his sister Kimberly Dawn Cobain.

The judge who granted this custody also issued a restraining order against Love.

For years Cobain’s family members have stated Love has been an unfit parent to Frances and their effort to take custody of her daughter hasn’t ceased for a number of years.

Yesterday an LA judge extended the existing order restricting Love’s contact with her daughter until April 9.

Once Frances turns 18 in August, however,  it will be up to her to decide the kind of relationship she wants to have with her crazy mother.

The week of Nov. 25 brought about a stream of tabloid stories alleging that professional golfer Tiger Woods had an affair with nightclub hostess Rachel Uchitel. From that Wednesday on, many new developments surfaced and Woods’ story has remained the most prominently viewed headline in all forms of media.

The Timeline

Nov. 27: Woods crashed his Cadillac Escalade into a fire hydrant and neighbor’s tree close to his Florida home. It was also reported that Woods’ wife Elin Nordegren used a golf club to smash one of the car windows and told police she was trying to get unconscious husband out of the car. Woods was briefly hospitalized in the early hours of the morning.

Nov. 29: Police tried to interview Woods since the car accident, but his lawyer turned them away. He then released a personal statement on his website saying, “This situation is my fault, and it’s obviously embarrassing to my family and me. I’m human and I’m not perfect. I will certainly make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

Nov. 30: Due to his injuries, Woods withdraws from the Chevron World Challenge golf tournament.

Dec. 2: Another woman named Jaimee Grubbs came forth saying she had a 31-month long affair with Woods and has proof of the relationship in over 300 text messages. Us Weekly magazine published a story claiming Grubbs first met Woods the week after the 2007 Masters.

Following this outbreak, Woods released another statement on his website acknowledging and apologizing for unidentified “transgressions.”

Dec. 7: A report was released by the police officer who responded to Woods’ accident which stated Woods was initially unresponsive and lying on the road covered in a blanket and resting his head on a pillow.

Dec. 11: Woods announced on his website that he is taking an “indefinite break” from golf following the two allegation-filled weeks. He wrote, “I am deeply aware of the disappointment and hurt that my infidelity has caused to so many people, most of all my wife and children… After much soul searching, I have decided to take an indefinite break from professional golf. I need to focus my attention on being a better husband, father, and person.”

Since then, more women have come forth alleging they had extramarital affairs with Woods. Due to the nature of his infidelity and immoral behavior, a number of sponsors have since dropped Woods as their primary spokesperson. There has been no word of an official divorce or separation between Woods and his wife in the picture just yet, although it’s looking extremely probable at this point.

Since being a part of The Rolling Stones for the past three decades, 62-year-old guitarist Ronnie Wood has had a somewhat over-the-top private life in addition to his crazy life on the road.

Wood was released on bail yesterday until a court date in January after being arrested for an alleged domestic assault two days ago on Claygate High Street near a town southwest of London.

According to police, they were called to the scene around 11:30 p.m. on Dec. 2 after a domestic incident was reported. Wood was taken into custody and spent the night in jail before being released on bail yesterday.

Although details surrounding the arrest have been kept a secret as the event is still under investigation, it is reported that Wood began dating a 20-year-old Russian cocktail waitress while married to wife Jo for 24 years. Wood’s name was prominent in the news last year as his divorce on the grounds of adultery was highly publicized all over the world.

Police haven’t yet released any details explaining who was assaulted. I’m sure we’ll be hearing very soon and it will be juicy, as always.

Jon Gosselin showed up for a divorce arbitration hearing Saturday with a bouquet of red roses for possible soon-to-be ex-wife Kate. Her reaction? She turned them down and after the daylong hearing left the courthouse empty-handed.

In an arbitration hearing, the hired arbitrator carefully listens to both parties and makes a final decision that cannot be appealed. Many couples choose this route if they want to avoid a messy, expensive and more drama-filled divorce.

According to Jon’s lawyer Mark Heller, the chosen arbitrator is expected to rule in a month and it’s very likely the couple’s contentious divorce could be finalized by the end of this year.

The many issues discussed include child support and custody of their eight children and distribution of assets.

Like many celebrity divorces, there’s a good chance things can go sour for the Gosselins, but we can all count on the reliable and relentless media to continue giving us the play-by-play.