Demi Moore’s half brother, Morgan Guynes, is in a heated custody battle with his ex-wife, Lesley, over their twin boys.

According to Lesley, Demi and Ashton Kutcher (her husband) have been paying Morgan’s expensive legal bills. On July 19, 2007 in a Van Nuys (California) courtroom, Lesley was granted physical custody of her sons who were previously living with Morgan in Beverly Hills at the home of Aston and Demi. After the hearing Lesley returned with the boys to her home state of Georgia.

Lesley was ordered to return to Los Angeles with the twins at the start of the school year. The court ordered that a custody evaluation be performed to decide who the children will live with. Custody evaluations are expensive, sometimes costing $10,000, and can take to 8 to 10 months to complete.

Custody evaluations are performed by court appointed evaluators who are therapists or social workers. The custody evaluator will meet with both parents and often other family members as well as the children. It is likely that the evaluator will want to speak with Ashton and Demi as well. The evaluator will want to observe the children with each parent in that parent’s home, and will issue a report which will conclude which parent should have custody. It is within the court’s discretion to adopt the evaluator’s recommendation, and the courts usually do.