Halle Berry is seeking exclusive legal custody of her 10-year-old son, Maceo, with her ex, Oliver Martinez.
According to reports, the actress alleges her ex-husband, Martinez, refuses to co-parent or interact in a child-centered manner. This comes weeks after the actress claimed her ex had stopped attending a co-parenting coach.
According to a legal document filed in the Superior Court of California in Los Angeles County, Halle Berry is seeking complete custody. If exclusive custody is not achievable, the star of “The Union” is asking “tie-breaking authority to make all decisions” about Maceo’s schooling, health, and treatment requirements, according to People.
Berry, 58, and Martinez, 58, married in July 2013 and welcomed Maceo in October of same year. The couple filed for divorce in October 2015, and it was completed in August 2023.
At the time, they agreed to share joint legal custody of their kid, with Berry paying Martinez $8,000 per month in child support plus “4.3% of any income she receives above $2,000,000.”
However, in the most recent declaration, Berry claims she attempted to address her son’s “educational challenges” and associated behavioral concerns by fighting for tutoring, an educational assessment, and finding an environment that was suitable to Maceo’s needs.
Berry’s complaint alleges that Martinez emphasized Maceo’s soccer activities over their son’s “educational and psychological well-being” and interfered with “strategies and interventions to assist” him. As part of their custody arrangement, Berry promised to cover Maceo’s private school tuition, extracurricular activities, health insurance, and therapy fees.
As a result, Berry claims that their son’s “educational and behavioral challenges worsened, and he continued to fall further behind in school.”
Berry also claims Maceo would “act out” against her during “longer periods of custody” with Martinez, including rehashing disagreements she and Martinez had in private.
The former couple’s custody agreement stated that Berry and Martinez are not permitted to “speak in a negative, disrespectful, disparaging, or derogatory manner to, or about, the other (parent) or her/his family and/or significant other, or allow third parties to do (the) same, to Maceo, in the presence of Maceo, or within Maceo’s hearing range.”
“Maceo was not immune to [Martinez’s] behavior, which deteriorated over time as [he] refused therapeutic intervention for Maceo.” Maceo “acted out upon his return” from his father’s allegedly becoming “angry and combative” against Berry, which exacerbated with prolonged times in his father’s custody, Berry said.
“Prior to therapeutic intervention, Maceo was prone to repeat disputes that the parties had in private – and that Petitioner [Berry] did not discuss with Maceo – often taking Respondent’s side in these disputes or instructing Petitioner how he and Respondent would address the issue, completely disregarding Petitioner’s input or authority as a parent,” the complaint alleges.
Martinez’s attorney told People that he will reply to Berry’s charges in the coming weeks.
