Custody Battles

Sherri Shepherd does not want anything to do with her unborn surrogate baby ... because she believes her estranged husband defrauded her into having the kid in the first place so he could get child support ... this according to multiple sources connected with the couple.

TMZ broke the story ... Sherri and her husband Lamar Sally each separately filed legal docs to end their marriage. The big complication -- a baby will be born this month to a surrogate who signed a contract with Sherri and Lamar.

Now our sources say ... the baby was conceived with Lamar's sperm, but NOT Sherri's egg.

Now here's where it gets tricky. We're told Sherri does not want custody or even to be considered a parent ... because she doesn't want to get stuck with massive child support payments.

Sherri wants a judge to rule she has no parental rights or responsibilities -- which would shut the door to child support. She claims Lamar defrauded her -- that he got her to sign on for a surrogate birth knowing full well he would divorce her and then nail her to the wall for child support.

Our Lamar sources say Sherri tried to get pregnant in vitro and when it didn't work she got deeply involved in the surrogacy process.

"Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta" star Stevie J thought his only legal woe was back child support during a court appearance Monday ... but his problems now include weed and coke.

Stevie was in court in Manhattan to surrender on charges he owes his baby mama more than a million dollars in back child support.

It should have been simple ... post the $25,000 and then walk out. Turns out Stevie was drug tested when he was picked up in Atlanta earlier this month and he flunked bad.

So the judge allowed Stevie to post bail ... but added a condition that he submit to random drug testing.

Zoe McClellan says she just learned a hard lesson about success ... sometimes your ex will come
after you with a vengeance, especially when money is on the line.

Zoe just signed on as the new star of "NCIS: New Orleans." According to legal docs -- obtained by TMZ -- she'll be raking in $45K an episode.

Zoe's hubby, J.P. Gillain -- a struggling actor -- just filed for divorce, and she doesn't think it's coincidental. J.P. is asking for joint custody, and she suggests a motivating factor is that he wants child support.

Zoe is also incredulous ... because she goes on and on in the docs saying J.P. has never been a hands-on dad, to the point where he doesn't know how to put their 18-month-old Sebastian to sleep.

Zoe used to be rolling in dough, starring in "JAG" for years. But when the show went off the air she couldn't get an acting job -- she was a life coach and J.P. waited tables.

Zoe wants to move to New Orleans to shoot the show, and she's now asking the judge for an emergency order giving her temporary full custody, but J.P. strongly objects.

The-Dream maintains he never laid a hand on his baby mama ... and this weekend hinted she was only making brutal accusations against him in order to get paid.

We broke the story ... The-Dream is being accused of punching, kicking and strangling his ex-girlfriend ... when she was pregnant with his child. TMZ even obtained photos of her alleged injuries.

Outside Mr. Chow on Sunday night, the R&B star reiterated his innocence, but this time made a remark about people always gunning for his money ... clearly directed at the baby mama.

Melanie Griffith thinks she's a better parent than Antonio Banderas -- a dog parent, that is -- and she's dead set on getting custody of their three dogs in the divorce ... TMZ has learned.

As TMZ first reported, Griffith filed for divorce on June 6 after 18 years of marriage to Banderas.

Child custody won't be an issue -- their daughter turns 18 in September -- but sources close to Griffith tell TMZ she is angling for custody of their three dogs. The former couple has one terrier mix and two shepherd lab mixes they adopted last February.

Our sources say Melanie is the better dog owner between herself and Antonio ... and the pooches mean the world to her.

Sherri Shepherd can keep talking for a living about anything she wants ... except the identity and location of the woman who is carrying her baby ... so a judge ordered today.

Shepherd was a no-show in court today, but her estranged husband Lamar Sally was there to argue that their entire divorce should be sealed. The judge did not rule on the case as a whole, but did order both sides to stop talking about their surrogate -- either her identity or location.

As we first reported ... Lamar is concerned a publicity crush at the hospital will endanger the baby.

Nonetheless, he has revealed the due date is July 28.

Marc Anthony has been ordered to pay ex-wife Dayanara Torres more than $28,000 in child support ... more than twice what he was paying but WAY less than she wanted.

TMZ broke the story ... Torres claimed she was living a peasant lifestyle with her $13K a month in child support for their 2 kids ... and wanted it upped to $113,000.

A judge just ruled ... Anthony must now pay Torres $28,680 a month. She also gets an increase in her yearly vacation allowance -- from $6K to 12K.

In the order the judge notes Anthony raked in more than $600,000 A MONTH in 2014. Now get this ... he's making LESS than he did previously, when he pulled in more than $12 MIL a year.

And this is interesting ... Anthony has been giving $25,000 a month to charity in 2014. Now that's what he roughly has to pay Torres.

Halle Berry's checkbook is about to get a workout ... she's going to start paying baby daddy Gabriel Aubry $16,000/month in child support -- which comes to almost $200K a year.

A judge signed off on a settlement involving their custody dispute over 6-year-old Nahla.

L.A. Superior Court Judge Scott Gordon also ordered Berry to pay Aubry a retroactive payment of $115,000. And get this ... she also has to pay him $300,000 in attorney's fees.

Master P just lost custody of his 4 kids ... because he didn't bother showing up in court.

Sonya Miller was just awarded sole physical and legal custody of 13-year-old Hercy, 9-year-old Mercy, 17-year-old Tytyana and 14-year-old Italy.

The divorce battle has become epic, with Sonya claiming she's been left destitute even though the couple amassed a $200 million fortune. Master P claims he won't enable his wife with money until she gets off drugs and booze.

Master P didn't respond to Sonya's legal docs, so Monday morning the judge came down on him with a vengeance.

9:10 AM PT -- Danielle's attorney Patty Glaser is now responding, telling TMZ, "Mr. Patric's reprehensible physical abuse and anti-Semitic remarks date back as far as 2005. Unfortunately, victims of domestic violence ask themselves all the time why they maintained relationships with the abuser and when they realize what happened no longer tolerate it."

She adds, "The fact that the domestic violence restraining order was issued after a family court judge heard Ms. Schreiber's and Mr. Patric's testimony speaks for itself."

Jason Patric repeatedly called his baby mama "Jew c**t" and "Ms. Jew Lawyer" ... this according to the baby mama herself.

You probably know ... Jason has made a cause celeb out of the fact that a quirk in the law prohibited him from having a relationship with son -- Gus, now 4, was born via in vitro fertilization with the help of a doctor ... and under California law since Jason wasn't married to the mother he had no right.

Jason appealed for public sympathy and enlisted the help of a number of celebs. An appeals court has just given him a shot at winning some custody.

But baby mama Danielle Schreiber sees Jason as anything BUT sympathetic. In legal docs filed with the court and reviewed by TMZ ... she claims Jason was a monster, slamming her head into a wall and hitting her in the face with a telephone receiver.

And she says he was awful to her, regularly referring to her as ""Jew C**t" and "Ms. C**t Schreiber." She says Jason's anti-Semitism continued when he went to their son's preschool, and in front of everyone ... called her "Ms. Jew Lawyer" and "Ms. Jew Schreiber." She says he also accused her of being "c**tish" -- in front of everyone.

Schreiber got a restraining order in November, prohibiting him from contacting or harassing her.

For Patric's part, his lawyer, Fred Silberberg, calls the allegations "categorically untrue." He tells us, "These disclosures are a last gasp attempt at disparaging Gus’ father ... [They] are desperate comments from a desperate woman."

The lawyer adds, "If Ms. Schreiber is telling the truth, which she is not, then she should explain how it is that she chose to have a child with Mr. Patric, why she engaged in years of fertility treatments with him, lived with mr. Patric ... [and] maintained a relationship with [him] for over 10 years."

Disney star Tiffany Thornton says she'll come out of hiding -- and bring her two kids home -- but first, her husband has to get sober, TMZ has learned.

Ruth Carney -- mother of Tiffany's husband Chris Carney -- tells us she helped Tiffany run away to escape Chris' alcohol habit ... but she says everyone's calmed down now and they're actually trying to work things out.

We broke the story ... Chris filed a police report Thursday accusing Tiffany of child stealing ... after she took their 2 boys to Texas. Chris has denied he has a drinking problem.

Disney star Tiffany Thornton did NOT abduct her two baby sons -- she ran away to protect them from their alcoholic dad ... his own mother tells TMZ.

Musician Chris Carney filed a child stealing report with cops, alleging "The Sonny With A Chance" star abducted their 3-month old and 20-month old boys with the help of his mom, Ruth Carney.

Ruth tells us ... her son has a big drinking problem and recently went to rehab. She says he relapsed recently and "went crazy."

Ruth -- who is the mayor of Hot Springs, Arkansas -- was in L.A. to help Tiffany with the baby, and says when she saw her son acting crazy and drunk, she took Tiffany and the kids and hightailed it out of town to the home of Tiffany's parents in Texas.

Ruth claims Chris knew exactly what was going on during the entire drive, because Tiffany FaceTimed with him daily. She says he was upset.

Chris tells us ... he's not an alcoholic, but rather a social drinker. He says his mom simply freaked out when she saw a beer in the fridge.

In Chris' view his mom is anything but nurturing, calling her an accessory to a felony.

Sherri Shepherd's estranged husband is upping the ante on the drama over his unborn child ... warning Sherri a gig she's booked -- NINE DAYS BEFORE the baby's due date -- is cutting it too close ... and he's pissed.

TMZ has learned Lamar Sally is outraged Sherri is scheduled to perform July 19 at a gospel fest in Virginia. Their surrogate is due to give birth on July 28 ... in Pennsylvania.

According to sources connected with the couple ... Lamar is telling Sherri missing the birth would be an unforgivable sin -- especially because it's HIS first child.

Michael Lohan's gonna have to say lots of Hail Marys -- and fork over lots of cash -- if a judge orders him to ante up thousands for his kid's Catholic school education ... but Michael says it's just more Dina BS.

Dina Lohan filed new court docs -- obtained by TMZ -- claiming Michael refuses to pay for Lindsay's brother, Cody.

Dina grouses ... Michael hasn't paid a dime, even though they were supposed to split the $10K/year tuition. Dina says she covered the first 3 years -- $30K -- but wants Michael to ante up for Cody's senior year.

But Michael's says poppycock ... telling TMZ he already gave Dina 30 grand for the school and a car for Cody. Plus, he says he's given her $1,500 a month for the last two years. And he says he's given daughter Ali $35K over the past year for an NYC apartment.

Michael says what is especially galling ... Dina blew around $10K on trips to visit her boyfriend in Texas.

Sherri Shepherd's bitter divorce and custody war is jeopardizing the safety of her unborn child ... to the point her estranged hubby is fretting over a possible kidnapping.

Lamar Sally claims in new legal docs -- obtained by TMZ -- there's now so much attention on the baby -- which is being carried via surrogate -- it now has a target on its head.

Lamar has an inflated idea of Sherri's celebrity ... worrying there will be a massive media crush at the hospital when their baby is born, which could snarl traffic and ... "expose our son to criminals who might target our child for financial gain."

Translation ... they don't want a repeat of that Charles Lindbergh Jr. sitch in 1932.

Now, a reality check. One, no one knows where Lamar and Sherri's surrogate is giving birth. Two, neither Lamar nor Sherri piloted the first solo trans-Atlantic flight.

THE BATTLE IS ON -- Sherri Shepherd will FIGHT her estranged husband tooth and nail to get CUSTODY of their unborn child ... this according to prenup docs obtained by TMZ.

Sherri filed divorce docs earlier this month, days after hubby Lamar Sally filed his own docs for legal separation where he asked for full custody of their unborn child, who is being carried to term via surrogate. The baby is due in July.

Sherri strangely doesn't even mention custody in her divorce docs, but DOES ask to enforce their prenup ... and now we know the prenup is Sherri's secret custody weapon.

Under the prenup, Lamar agrees that the new kid will live with Sherri and her son Jeffrey from a previous relationship. So the prenup gives Sherri full physical custody of the new baby.

In Lamar's legal docs, he's asking the judge to throw out the prenup on grounds of fraud. If he gets the prenup invalidated, that clears the way for his demand for full custody. But proving fraud is hard.