Custody Battles

Sherri Shepherd claims estranged hubby pilfered around $20K from their joint bank account before he split ... and the money could end up as a key piece of evidence in their custody war.

Sources close to the couple tell us Sherri was in the dark until she looked at a recent bank statement and saw the money was gone.

The fired "View" host is disavowing the contract she and Lamar Sally signed with a surrogate on grounds Lamar defrauded Sherri -- that the only reason he wanted the baby was so he could divorce her and collect child support. We're told Sherri will use the $20K withdrawal as proof Lamar was purely money-motivated.

Sources tell us Lamar used the money for baby expenses ... including trips he took to Pennsylvania to be with the surrogate. He also claims Sherri knew full well he took the money out of their joint account.

Ex-MGM mogul Kirk Kerkorian just scored a knockout punch against his ex-wife Lisa Bonder ... a judge just shut down her request to up monthly child support from $100K to $565K.

It's a spectacular defeat for Bonder, who claimed their 16-year-old daughter Kira needed $491,000 a month just for equestrian expenses. Kira is an accomplished rider who has Olympic aspirations, but apparently the judge found Bonder's request ridiculous.

The judge felt Bonder could make do with $100,000 a month ... which by the way is the largest child support award on record in the U.S.

The judge scoffed at Bonder's request in his written ruling -- obtained by TMZ -- saying, "There is a difference between the 'needs' of a child and the 'wants' of a child."

Here's what's really amazing. Kerkorian and Bonder were married a grand total of 28 days back in 1999 and the child isn't even his ... when he agreed to pay support he didn't know Kira wasn't his biological child.

Lamar Sally got a slew of baby gifts from just about everyone in his life except one person ... the woman who had signed on to be the mother -- Sherri Shepherd.

The baby was due Thursday. It's being carried by a surrogate and Lamar and Sherri were once looking forward to raising the kid together ... until he filed for separation and she filed for divorce. Now she wants a clean break from Lamar and the kid.

Lamar's friends have given him gift cards, baby clothes and lots of stuff for the nursery. Lamar has dropped $5K on a changing station, crib, baby swing and rocking chair. But Sherri has not so much as given him a diaper on which the kid can crap.

Sherri believes Lamar defrauded her into signing on with the surrogate, claiming he always planned on leaving her and this was just a transparent ploy to get child support.

Rapper Future and his baby mama have reached a new custody deal ... which includes a schedule for Martin Luther King Day.

Future must now pay $2,800 a month in child support for his 11-year-old son -- that's up $1,200 from what he was previously paying. But it won't really cramp his style ... because according to court docs he earns $50K every month.

The new deal -- the result of Future's increased earnings -- lays out a plan for who gets the kid on big holidays, including Thanksgiving, XMAS, the child's birthday and MLK Day.

And there's this ... baby mama Jessica Smith agreed to move to a nicer neighborhood near Atlanta so the child could attend a better school.

Sherri Shepherd will maintain primary physical custody of her 9-year-old son, despite her ex-husband's claims she's a horrible parent to the child.

Sherri emerged victorious over Jeffrey Tarpley after yesterday's hearing in L.A. County Court -- he was seeking full custody of their son, but was denied by the judge.

TMZ broke the story ... Jeffrey made some horrendous claims about Sherri neglecting Jeffrey Jr. -- including blaming her for the boy not being able to read or tie his shoe laces.

The judge clearly disagreed. In court docs -- obtained by TMZ -- she wrote, "there has not been a material change in circumstances to grant the request."

After court Sherri asked fans to "keep the prayers coming" ... clearly referring to her ongoing battle with estranged husband Lamar Sally.

Keep the prayers coming... Still got more battles - please judge me by my character and not from the tabloids who are having a slow news day

Sherri Shepherd is scoffing at Lamar Sally calling her a hypocrite in their custody war ... telling us anyone who knows her, knows Lamar is full of BS.

Shepherd was judged today but not by Lamar ... by a real judge in a different custody fight she's having with ex-husband Jeff Tarpley over their nine-year-old son. He now wants full custody.

Sherri Shepherd will be sued if she doesn't embrace the child she's having this month via surrogate ... so promises her very angry and determined estranged husband.

We've learned Lamar Sally is already drafting legal docs to prevent Sherri from backing out of the surrogate contract she signed while they were still a couple.

As TMZ first reported ... Sherri claims Lamar defrauded her into signing the contract ... claiming he knew he wanted out of the marriage but wanted to hook her into paying child support. She wants the contract voided on grounds of fraud ... and wash her hands of any parental obligations.

Lamar is calling BS and says he'll fight to put Sherri's John Hancock on the birth certificate ... and if that takes a judge's order, so be it.

We're told Lamar may weave what he believes is Sherri's hypocrisy into the contract, saying on the one hand she professes to be a good Christian and on the other abandoning an innocent child.

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.