Charlie Sheen and ex-wife Denise Richards had a very public and very bitter divorce several years ago. After much battling in the courts and the media, the two ultimately had joint legal custody of their daughters Sam and Lola, who are 6 and 4 years old.

Sheen, who is facing felony domestic abuse charges in Colorado related to an incident this winter involving his current wife Brooke Mueller, has now reportedly agreed to give sole legal custody of the girls to Richards. According to sources, Richards wanted full legal custody due to Sheen’s criminal charges, current marital turmoil, and questions related to his sobriety. Sheen apparently wasn’t interested in adding a custody battle to that list of problems (and quite possibly believed that he wouldn’t be in a great position to defend himself against Richards’ concerns).

Under the former couple’s original divorce agreement, Richards had primary physical custody, Sheen had regular visitation and they shared legal custody. Legal custody enables a custodian to make medical, education and other important decisions in the children’s lives. With sole legal custody, Richards can now make those major decisions without consulting Sheen or getting his approval.

According to TMZ.com, Sheen pays $50,000 a month in child support for Sam and Lola. They also report that, if he and Mueller split (as has been rumored for months), he will be on the hook for $55,000 (plus medical and school expenses) a month for the support of their young twins.

Custody and child support are always modifiable under appropriate circumstances. The surrender of legal custody at this point does not prohibit Sheen from seeking reinstatement of legal custody in the future if he can get his life in order. And child support can also be raised or lowered depending on both Sheen’s and Richards’ (or Mueller’s, depending on the case) financial situations.

In order to have either custody or support orders modified, the parties will have to agree or the moving party will have to convince a judge that there has been a substantial change in circumstances which renders the existing order inappropriate.

Library Topics: divorce, sole legal custody, joint legal custody, child support, child support modification, child custody modification, primary physical custody, visitation

See Also:

• Denise Richards and Charlie Sheen’s Kids to Go to Therapy