But the whole thing got me to thinking about other celebrity dads who got physical custody of the kids after a split. There aren’t many, that’s for sure. And some of them are very “interesting” situations to say the least.

Once upon a time, most states had “tender years” laws which presumed that a child’s mother was the appropriate caregiver for a child “of tender years” – a.k.a. a young child. Although many will argue that some judges still consider the mother the presumptively correct caregiver, the laws have fallen by the wayside. The courts must award custody in a manner that they believe to be in the best interests of the child.

But it is still rather unusual for a father to have sole physical custody of the kids. So, which daddies got the kids?

• Michael Jackson – has sole legal and physical custody of his three children – Prince Michael Jackson and Paris Jackson by ex-wife Debbie Rowe and Prince Michael Jackson II (Blanket) by a surrogate mother
• Kevin Federline – currently has sole legal custody of Sean Preston Federline and Jayden James Federline, his sons with singer Britney Spears. Spears has liberal visitation and is expected to eventually regain joint custody of the boys.
• David Hasselhoff - was originally awarded full custody of his teenage daughters, despite several much-publicized falls of the wagon. Hasselhoff and his ex-wife Pamela Bach have since agreed to share custody of the girls on a permanent basis.
• Tom Cruise – curiously, has full custody of his adopted children, Connor and Isabella. Their mother Nicole Kidman has indicated that she does not have a particularly close relationship with her oldest children now that Cruise is married to Katie Holmes.
• Kid Rock – had full legal and physical custody of his son for quite some time, as the boy’s mother apparently had a drug problem. I haven’t seen anything in the press to indicate that the custody arrangement has changed but the mother did seek a change in custody back in 2000. All of the press surrounding Rock’s relationship with Pamela Anderson seemed to imply that Rock still had custody of the now-14 year old boy.
• Larry Birkhead – okay, circumstances are a bit different here. But Birkhead does have custody of Dannielynn, his young daughter with the late Anna Nicole Smith. You’ll recall the notorious paternity battle waged between Birkhead and Smith’s attorney/alleged lover Howard K. Stern after Smith’s death.
• Bob Geldof – Geldof is an Irish musician and philanthropist (I’m showing my age now but he was big in the ’80’s British New Wave era and was an original organizer of Band Aid, Live Aid and Live 8). He got full custody of his daughters Fifi, Peaches and Pixie after his ex-wife Paula Yates’ boyfriend Michael Hutchence of INXS hung himself. Several years later, Yates overdosed on booze and drugs. Geldof then became legal guardian of Yates’ and Hutchence’s daughter, Tiger Lily.

Who have we missed in our list? Feel free to let us know who we’ve left out!

Related posts:

1. Michael Jackson's Mother Finalizes Custody of His Kids
2. Britney Gets 50/50 Custody of Kids for Near Future
3. Determining Custody of Michael Jackson's Children