To no one’s surprise, 18-year-old Jamie Lynn Spears has split from Casey Aldridge, with whom she has a 19-month-old daughter, Maddie. Spears, the younger sister of Britney Spears and star of the Nickelodeon show “Zoey 101”, made headlines in 2007 when she announced that she was pregnant at the age of 16.

After Maddie was born in June 2008, Jamie Lynn and Aldridge moved into a home together in Liberty, Mississippi and were reportedly engaged.

She reportedly moved out of the house she shared Aldridge about six weeks ago and is now living with her mother nearby in Louisiana. Sources now say that the couple has broken up and that Jamie Lynn is dating a Louisiana businessman ten years her senior.

Although the couple was never legally married, they will still have a number of divorce-like matters to attend to. First, it will be important for a court to determine paternity of little Maddie. Aldridge is undoubtedly the presumed father, as he is likely listed as father on the child’s birth certificate. A court order is still necessary to make the relationship legal in the absence of a marriage.

After paternity is legally established, the former couple can move on to a discussion of custody, visitation and child support. Reports indicate that Aldridge is a construction worker and may currently be working out-of-state. It seems likely then that Jamie Lynn would seek primary physical custody of the child. Child support will likely be determined by an approved calculation based upon each parent’s income.

Finally, because they lived together for approximately two years and shared a home, there is likely some division of property to be done. Depending on the title of the house and any cohabitation agreement, they could end up in court unless they are able to reach a property settlement.

Library Topics: broken engagements, marriage, paternity, presumed father, custody and visitation, child support, primary physical custody, division of property, cohabitation agreements, property settlement