Amy Slaton & Michael’s Custody Agreement Explained

 

Reality TV star and YouTuber Michael Halterman, had the misfortune of getting to know the notorious Amy Slaton while still in high school, around 2001. He had no idea the kind of person she really was back then, and he wouldn’t find out until 2014 and subsequent years, when Amy’s popularity would hit all-time highs on YouTube.

The false sense of comfort and security brought about by Amy’s new income would allow for all manner of irresponsibility to be showcased, and admitted to later down the line. In all those instances, it was the people (or animals) around Amy suffering the brunt of her refusal to step up and behave in a way becoming of her age and status.

Many believed that giving birth to a child would cause Amy to finally think long and hard about her choices, and change for the better, but it seems that Gage Deon coming into the world on 10 November 2020 had no positive effect on his mother overall.

The couple tried again after that, and Glenn Allen Halterman was born on 26 July 2022. In spite of the joy that two new innocent lives tend to bring while roaming around the household, Amy and Michael only seemed to grow more distant as time went by.

This buildup of animosity culminated on 13 March 2023, when Michael filed for divorce. Amy didn’t stay silent either, pushing for divorce as well, and alleging to the authorities that Michael has certain anger issues. While still not proven in a court of law, it’s reported by Amy that her soon-to-be ex-husband tends to throw things around the house whenever tension spikes up.

She also said that he’s quite controlling, forbidding her from taking the children to see family members if that inconveniences him on that particular day. However, it can’t be known for certain whether any of this is true until a proper investigation is conducted. That said, knowing Amy’s history of telling falsehoods, it’s very likely that violent and/or irresponsible behavior between the two isn’t simply one-sided.

All of these factors, and many more, have been brought up in the court case of their divorce, especially in order to resolve the matter of who will have primary custody over their two innocent boys. As of late April 2023, the result of the ongoing proceedings is anyone’s guess, and the only respite that the curious crowd can get from sheer ignorance is the hindsight of Amy and Michael as separate individuals and a married couple.

The beginning of the end

As the already battered reputation of the Slaton sisters proceeded to deteriorate at an even faster pace following the second half of the 2010s, one could argue that it became increasingly difficult to remain loving and understanding towards Amy, especially considering her many transgressions against others.

While the details on this matter are still not clear, it’s evident that Michael became quite unhappy with their marriage in 2021, approximately two years into its existence. Although not logically surprising in the slightest, this shift of emotions came as a shock to the many fans who kept up with the couple over the years. Their dedicated subscribers are familiar with the fact that the two had been dating since high school, and had even ‘eloped’ in June 2017.

Their recent marriage fiasco thus confused many, and had some wondering; since Michael already seemed at ease with most of the things Amy had admitted to, which could’ve been so unforgivable as to even force him to abandon ship, in spite of the ever-higher ratings and substantial profits that they were raking in from the TLC reality TV series made for Amy and Tammy – “1000-lb Sisters.”

While it’s too early to make any conclusions about whose fault it really is, though most believe the guilt to be two-sided, what can be said for certain is that both Amy and Michael have had a past filled with unlawful behavior. The main theme of Amy’s wrongdoings seems to be negligence, deceit, and irresponsibility, while Michael is mostly known for having been violent.

The Slaton-Halterman skeletons

Due to her controversial past as a content creator, Amy is very easy to blame for any bumps in the road in a given relationship. Her bad habits notwithstanding, it seems that Michael hasn’t been a law-abiding citizen either, with a less-than-stellar streak of undesirable behavior. It’s believed that the couple are now using each other’s past to justify their own claims, which could, in theory, make them equally guilty in the entire matter.

It’s definitely easier to start with Michael, as his past is nowhere near as despicable as Amy’s. He noteworthily went on record on 7 November 2015, having his mugshot uploaded to the national offender database at the Henderson police department in Kentucky, charged with fourth-degree domestic violence for causing a minor injury. The details regarding this event are still unknown  in mid-2023, but the severity can be assumed from the charge itself.

In the state of Kentucky, fourth-degree assault is a Class A misdemeanor, and it can also be charged as domestic violence if the victim is a family member or one of an unmarried couple. According to Kentucky laws, assault in the fourth degree can be intentional or wanton, causing physical injury to another person, or recklessly causing physical injury to another person by means of a deadly weapon or a dangerous instrument.

Domestic violence and abuse, in this case, are defined as causing some degree of physical injury, committing sexual abuse, committing assault, or committing stalking between family members or members of an unmarried couple. This charge is usually not a felony, but can have serious consequences. Each victim of domestic violence has legal options, and may request the court to issue a protective order which can limit or stop all contact with an abusive individual. These orders can be temporary or extended, depending on the severity of the situation.

‘1000-Lb. Sisters’ star Amy Slaton, husband Michael Halterman divorcing https://t.co/3H7iNdUZtq pic.twitter.com/fxtrzqHQjf

— Page Six (@PageSix) March 22, 2023

Fans have theorized that this event may have occurred between Michael and Amy, during one of their at-the-time rather rare altercations, but there’s no evidence to support this claim. Not even the Slaton sister herself has ever mentioned this arrest, leading most others to believe that it’s entirely unrelated to her.

Still, that begs the question as to who else it might be, since Michael isn’t known to have ever had a girlfriend other than Amy, and he’s not very close to his family. Halterman may have spent reasonable time behind bars for this incident, or he may have been substantially fined. Either way, it’s evident that he learnt his lesson, as that was the one and only time he’s had a run in with the law.

Amy, on the other hand, is a wrongdoer of an entirely different magnitude. She and Tammy have been the subject of many videos by big-time content creators, detailing their despicable actions on the platform prior to getting their own show on TLC. SunnyV2, for example, dubbed them as “The Sisters Who Faked Their Funeral For Money”, his video in particular contributing a great deal to the rise of the Slaton’s notoriety.

The video, of course, refers to the time when Amy asked fans to give as much money as they could so as to fund Tammy’s upcoming funeral, that is, ‘just in case’ she died. The plea was publicized in one of the videos on her channel following Tammy’s admission to hospital for pneumonia that left her immobilized.

There was no talk of potential death, however, as no doctor even hinted at a possibility of this happening. Still, Amy got on camera and started sobbing hysterically, while asking viewers for money that would be used to fund Tammy’s extra large triple-sized coffin. She promised that all proceeds would be used strictly to fund the funeral, in the unfortunate event of that being necessary.

After a few weeks, it was revealed that Tammy was alive and well, and back in the household. The disgruntled fans asked Amy what she did with the money, to which the sisters replied that it was given to their mother to pay for Tammy’s hospital bills. Naturally, those who donated their hard-earned money wanted to see exactly where it went, so asked the sisters for receipts of these so-called expenses.

No confirmation of a payment was ever provided, however, and Amy cited the reason for this as her mother being irresponsible. She pretty much stated that it was her mother’s duty to provide the receipts, as she was the one using the money after all. According to this narrative, neither of the sisters was to blame in the slightest – they were just innocents caught up in a scandal due to unfortunate circumstances.

This was far from the truth though, and that became apparent when Amy changed her story a few months down the line, saying that she did have the receipts at some point, but ended up throwing them away. Her reasoning for getting rid of the papers was that she had no idea they would be needed at some point, comparing the receipts for someone else’s money to her own from Walmart.

As the scammed fans became increasingly more enraged by the situation, Amy realized that she had to do something about it, or otherwise risk losing her career. The donators were ultimately offered reimbursement for their full donations, and things seemed to calm down for a while.

However, it was noted in the comment sections of the sisters’ subsequent videos that there were dozens upon dozens of disgruntled viewers who still hadn’t got their money back from the donation fiasco. These concerns were never addressed, and Amy dismissed all future mentions of the incident as though nothing ever happened.

To top that off, Amy was also arrested for shoplifting in 2010, which means both of her children’s parents have a criminal record. She also twice abandoned a dog in a vehicle during daytime and without air-conditioning on, but the authorities are least interested in cases like that, while stealing money and items from stores is a definite sign of criminal behavior.

The rules of custody

With all of this in mind, it becomes pretty difficult to pick a favorite parent from the two, so most fans are just waiting to see the court’s final decision. All of the current case files, at least as of late April 2023, have been obtained and explained by intouchweekly.com. The details are both confusing and surprising.

First of all, it was Michael and not Amy who initially filed for divorce. He submitted the request on 13 March 2023, but listed no official reason for it. He did this a few days after Amy had moved out of their shared home with their children, presumably with the intent to live at Tammy’s house until the entire legal matter is settled. This must’ve been the breaking point for Michael, who finally decided that he’d had it with the Slaton sister.

In order to stop her from lying to the court, he also requested that both of them obtain a restraining order of one another, making it illegal for them to be within 500ft (150m) of one another’s places of residence, that neither of them be allowed to post anything related to the separation on social media, and that all of their communication must take place on an app that was sanctioned by the court.

He most likely made these requests to be as transparent as possible, since there’s a chance that Amy’s February 28^th call to the authorities to report her husband behaving violently was an elaborate set-up by the sister herself. Following her telling the police that Michael was throwing things around and being violent with the boys, Halterman was issued an emergency restraining order. It was amended approximately a week later though, and he was allowed supervised visitation rights.

As things stand near the end of April 2023, the children are entirely in Amy’s custody, but Michael can see them from time to time if his mother and sister are also present for the whole duration of the visit. It isn’t specified how frequently Michael can come over or request to do so, but things aren’t likely to remain this way, since he and Amy are still battling it out in court.

The remainder of 2023 will potentially see the final outcome of this legal altercation, while the fans of either celebrity are still anxiously waiting to be proven right for supporting their favorite of the two. Due to the lack of evidence and transparency by both parties, almost everything they’re accusing each other of is currently nothing more than an allegation.