Mel B's ex-husband Stephen Belafonte is seeking full custody of their daughter Madison.
Mel B
The Spice Girls star and her ex-husband Stephen Belafonte currently have joint custody of their eight-year-old daughter Madison, but in court documents filed this week, Stephen has asked for full legal and physical custody of the youngster.
According to TMZ, Stephen claims Mel has "all but abandoned" her youngest child since moving to the UK following her split from Stephen.
The 44-year-old producer also alleges he's been the sole caregiver of Madison for the majority of 2018 and much of 2019.
However, Stephen is still willing to let Mel - who also has Phoenix, 20, with Jimmy Gulzar, and 12-year-old Angel with Eddie Murphy - see her daughter, although he wants courts to rule that visitation can only happen in Los Angeles and under supervision.
The documents come after Mel, also 44, had her request to take Madison home to the UK for Christmas blocked by courts in December, after they ruled in favour of Stephen.
At the time, Stephen filed documents requesting that Madison stay in Los Angeles with him over Christmas as opposed to travelling with Mel, and court records show the judge signed off on his request.
Meanwhile, the 'Wannabe' hitmaker has been trying to secure custody of Madison herself, as she said she would love for Madison to move to the UK with her permanently.
She said: "The only gift I want is to have my youngest daughter Madison with me in Leeds. I'm currently in the midst of a custody battle with her dad and it's incredibly hard. But I'm hoping and praying I will get her home."
In November, Mel filed court documents asking to return to the UK because she can't find work in the US.
Stephen currently gets overnight custody of Madison every Wednesday and every other weekend and Mel has promised to still provide him with "reasonable visitation" if she's given permission to move back to her native Leeds, pointing out the youngster travelled between Los Angeles and the UK during the Spice Girls comeback, and that her ex-husband regularly travels too.
She stressed she is not trying to keep Madison away from her dad but feels "concerned" the producer will make that claim and is worried if he keeps their daughter full time in the US he won't foster a positive relationship and the little girl could turn on her.
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