Custody Battles

Michael Lohan and Kate Major had their kids taken away last week ... TMZ has learned.

Sources familiar with the situation tell us, the Florida Dept. of Children and Families (DCF) sent social workers to Kate's apartment in Boca Raton Wednesday after obtaining a video of some sort of extreme argument Michael and Kate were having in front of 2-year-old Landon and 10-month-old Logan.

We're told DCF told Kate they were taking the kids temporarily until a responsible family member could take temporary custody. We're told the kids were put in foster care overnight.

Our sources say Michael's mother flew from Long Island immediately and the kids were taken to Michael's home Thursday under the guardianship of grandma.

We're told Michael and Kate can both see the kids, but only in grandma's presence.

It doesn't sound all that peaceful ... we're told 911 was called to Kate's apartment after Kate claimed Michael was banging on her door.

There's a hearing scheduled Tuesday in family court to go over the video and the plan.

4:09 PM PT -- Michael tells TMZ Kate came over to his house last Wednesday when Michael wasn't there. When he came home with the kids, he thought she had been drinking so he told her to leave and she did. He says the reason DCF took the kids was because Kate wasn't supposed to have the kids without a monitor and they felt that he didn't protect the kids from her. He does not address the video.

'CSI' star George Eads will face off with his soon-to-be ex-wife over the custody of their one-year-old daughter in an ugly divorce.

Eads filed divorce docs against Monika Casey ... the two have been married for 4 years. Eads wanted joint physical and legal custody of their daughter Dylan. However, Monika is asking for sole physical custody of the kid.

The two disagree on more than just custody of their daughter. Eads claims the two had a prenup but Monika doesn't mention it. In fact ... she's asking for spousal support.

They cite irreconcilable differences as the reason for the divorce ... the two appeared on an episode of "Flipping Out," but no word if a rough home remodel led to the split.

Olivier Martinez will not wage a custody war with Halle Berry, sources connected with the couple tell TMZ ... because he does not want to go through with the savagery he witnessed between Halle and Gabriel Aubry.

We're told Olivier was horrified by the bitterness between Halle and Gabriel, and the toll it took on their daughter Nahla. He's satisfied with joint custody of their 2-year-old son, Maceo, and we're told Halle is also down with that.

We're also told Olivier has no intention of moving to France and starting a Kelly Rutherford/Daniel Giersch type international war.

It's lucky for Halle, because she wanted to move Nahla to France, and tried unsuccessfully to convince a judge it was a better place to raise kids than the U.S.

DMX has a touching message for the poor guy who was mistaken for him in a paternity case -- and that message is ... WHERE'S THE CHECK, FOOL??

We got X in NYC, fresh off his jail sentence for a different child support case, and asked him about the story we broke -- an Earl Simmons in Massachusetts got a demand for a paternity test from DMX's baby mama in Florida.

Considering DMX knows the baby mama, and doesn't dispute the kids are his ... you'd expect him to clear up the confusion and let the guy off the hook, right?

Jeremy Renner's estranged wife thinks his pool is a death trap for their 2-year-old daughter because he won't install a safety fence ... so she's fighting him in court over it.

Sonni Pacheco's attorney was in court Wednesday in L.A., and told the judge Jeremy's koi pond and pool lack protective fencing. Sonni's afraid little Ava could fall in and drown before Jeremy gets to her.

Renner's side doesn't think a fence is needed because his laser detection system will alarm him if Ava were to fall into the pool or the pond.

They're also fighting over social media -- Sonni's uncomfortable with Jeremy posting pics of Ava.

DMX almost got a free pass on his latest paternity case, because the docs went to the wrong person ... someone unlucky enough to share X's real name!

We're told Earl Simmons from Massachusetts got docs in the mail from the Florida Dept. of Revenue, informing him he'd have to start paying child support to 2 of DMX's kids.

Yadira Borrego -- X's ex -- tells TMZ she filed the docs to establish paternity with the state, so DMX can pay child support through the proper legal channels ... and avoid another jail stint. She says he already supports their kids, but it's been off the books.

The person who's really screwed is the faux DMX, who works in the biomedical field. Poor guy's got 2 kids of his own, and we're told Florida is insisting he take a DNA test to prove he's not the real Ruff Ryder.

Damon Dash was shut down in court Thursday during a custody hearing for his two kids, and a judge made it very clear ... Damon hurt his chances by smoking too much pot.

Dash wanted an LA judge to drop the monitored visits he currently has with seven-year-old Tallulah for regular visitation and overnight stays. Dash's ex-wife Rachel Roy claims he smokes too much weed around their kids ... and during one visit they ate Damon's pot-laced cake and rice krispies.

In the end, the judge agreed with Rachel. He upheld the monitored visits and ordered Damon stay away from the green stuff for 24 hours before each visit.

We're told Damon was extremely upset and went off on the judge and was almost dragged out of the court. Big difference from 24 hours ago, when he was still optimistic about his chances.

Former "American Idol" contestant Corey Clark's arrest was the result of a conspiracy -- set in place by his estranged wife and her detective stepfather ... at least that's what Clark is claiming now.

Clark got busted September 23 in Yuma, AZ, and was eventually charged with misdemeanor domestic violence. But Tuesday in L.A. he told us the whole thing was a revenge plot.

Clark says he'd filed a report against Monica Clark just prior to his arrest, claiming she was violating their child custody agreement. Clark thinks it's no coincidence he was arrested right after that, especially because his wife's stepfather is a Yuma PD detective.

We've reached out to Yuma PD for a response ... so far, no word back.

Gilbert Arenas caught Laura Govan red-handed leaking their email exchange to a blogger -- and now he's calling her out in front of a judge ... according to court docs.

Chris Brown and his baby mama Nia Guzman have settled their custody war, right down to the official name of their child.

Sources connected with the case tell us, Chris and Nia have agreed to joint physical and legal custody. He'll get their 1-year-old 12 days out of the month, and there will be no supervised visitation.

As for the baby's name ... they've agreed she's Royalty Brown -- no middle name.

And we're told Chris will pay Nia $2,500 a month. He's also paying her $15k in back support.

Chris also has to pay for Royalty's schooling, health insurance, medical bills and nannies.

And we're told the drug test Chris submitted to during the custody hearing has come back positive for both weed and codeine, but we're told he had a prescription for both.

The settlement is subject to a judge's approval.

Morena Baccarin just won big in her custody hearing ... and now her kid will be shacking up with her in NYC.

A judge made the ruling in LA on Thursday -- Baccarin's one-year-old son she had with estranged husband Austin Chick will mainly live in NY with his mom. However, the couple will split joint custody.

Baccarin's attorney Samantha Spector tells TMZ ... Chick will still be able to visit his son once a month for 8 days, but he has to give a 15-day-notice before making a trip.

Chick will be able to bring his son back to LA every two months for an 8 day visit. We're told Baccarin will have to foot the travel expenses, but only has to pay for coach seats, no first class.

Rosie O'Donnell saved the life of her estranged wife by keeping her on the phone while EMTs rushed to help her ... TMZ has learned.

Sources familiar with the situation tell us ... Michelle Rounds had overdosed on pills after threatening to end her life. We're told Rosie got wind of Michelle's plan, called her and tried talking her out of it. Rosie got someone to call 911 as she stayed on the phone with Michelle.

Law enforcement confirms that Michelle was rushed to a local Nyack, NY hospital from a hotel at 11:15 PM Tuesday.

As one source put it ... Michelle wouldn't be alive today without Rosie's intervention.

We're also told the trigger for Michelle was child custody. Sources tell us Michelle lost custody of their 2-year-old daughter to Rosie, and that sent her over the edge.

Rosie even comforted Michelle while in the hospital.

Calls to Rosie's rep were not returned.

Chris Brown may have a leg up in his custody battle with his baby mama Nia Guzman ... her boyfriend was just arrested for forging checks.

Law enforcement tells TMZ King Ba was arrested for felony forgery, after he allegedly faked more than $5,000 in U.S. Treasury checks. We're told he was released on a $5,000 bond.

Ba told authorities he turned himself in after seeing his mug on Crime Stoppers.

As we reported, Nia has filed legal docs claiming Chris is not a suitable parent because he hangs with a bad element, but the sword may have been turned on her. For her part, sources close to Nia say she broke up with Ba.

Now all Chris has to do is worry about those drug tests.

Chris Brown won a big victory in custody court Friday, but it could get derailed because of an on-the-spot drug test.

TMZ broke the story, Chris got temporary joint custody of Royalty, where he and baby mama Nia Guzman rotate every 4 days.

Sources close to Nia tell TMZ, something else happened in court. Her lawyer asked the judge to force Chris to submit hair and urine samples for drug tests, and the judge ordered Chris to ante up on the spot.

The judge didn't say what he would do if the tests came back positive for drugs ... it would obviously depend in part what type of drugs, if any, were present in his system.

Our Nia sources also say Chris' custody win had strings attached ... his mom must be present when he has physical custody of his 1-year-old.

Chris Brown just scored an enormous victory in his child custody war with his baby mama ... he got joint custody of Royalty, and he gets to take her home today ... TMZ has learned.

Brown and Nia Guzman squared off in a Houston court Friday morning. She not only wanted to deny Chris any custodial rights, she also only wanted to give him supervised visitation.

The judge disagreed and we've learned Chris and Nia will share 50/50 physical custody, with Royalty going back and fourth every 4 days. Both Chris and Nia now live in L.A.

And Chris, who was in court represented by Mark Geragos, scored another victory. The judge ordered him to pay Nia $2,500 a month in child support, which is exactly what he's been paying her. She wanted $15k.

The judge also ordered Nia not to talk crap on Chris and not reveal anything about the case on social media.

2:00 PM PT -- Nia's legal team has a positive outlook on the hearing. We're told they see it as merely a temporary victory for Chris, since there will be a mediation in weeks to come -- and child support payments will be addressed.

Also, Chris agreed that his mother would always be present when he has custody of Royalty.

Chris Brown scored an early victory in his custody war with Nia Guzman that could end up saving him hundreds of thousands of dollars.

There was no sign of Chris during the first part of the hearing in a Houston courtroom ... where the judge shot down Guzman's motion to move the case to California. Although Guzman now lives in Cali ... the judge pointed out she was living in the Houston area when the case was filed.

Brown's attorney opposed the motion to move -- most likely because California courts tend to award more money in child support cases than Texas. Remember, Chris is currently paying Nia $2,500 per month, but she wants to bump that to $15k.

The hearing's still going on -- the judge still has to hash out a custody arrangement, and rule on the gag order Chris wants ... to stop Nia from bad mouthing him.

Even though Chris was NOT initially in the courtroom ... he posted a pic saying he's been in the building all along. We're told he and his attorney Mark Geragos were in a private area.