‘Teen Mom OG’ Star Amber Portwood Ordered To Pay $52k in Back Child Support; Judge Rules Her Ex Andrew Glennon Can Move Their Son To California

“Anyone know if they’ll let you take a loveseat through airport security?”

Amber Portwood‘s years-long custody battle against her ex Andrew Glennon over their son James has ended after a judge ruled mostly in favor of Andrew.

The Sun broke the news on Wednesday that the Teen Mom OG‘s four-year-old son will be allowed to move to California with Andrew. Amber– who lives in Indiana— will be allowed to have overnight visits with James (for the first time since she and Andrew split in 2019), as well as custody time with the tot each month. Those visits will happen in both Indiana and California, with the location alternating each month.

Amber and Andrew will each be responsible for the travel expenses they incur while getting themselves from place to place, and will split James’ cost, with that amount to be determined by their income. 

How Amber and Andrew’s conversation about this probably went, considering Andrew has no job…

“The court orders the parties shall divide the costs associated with the child travel expenses associated with parenting time pursuant to their respective income percentage shares,” The Sun reported, citing court documents. “Any travel expenses incurred by the party for their own travel in relation to parenting times will be paid by that party.” 

As The Ashley previously reported, Andrew alerted the court in April that he wants to move back to his home state of California and take James with him. Andrew stated that, if he is allowed to move, he and James would be living at Andrew’s mother’s $5 million Malibu estate.

“Perfect! Another rent-free living option!”

Andrew originally proposed that Amber’s visitation with her son be reduced to three, 10-hour visits a month in California, with no overnight time. The judge disagreed with Andrew’s plan, though, instead ordering that the exes follow a new visitation schedule that will be executed in phases to make it easier for James to adjust.

In Phase One, Amber’s visits with James will include three days with overnights, taking place in California one month, and then Indiana the next. (Andrew will be responsible for getting James to Indiana and Amber will responsible for getting herself to California, etc.) In Phase Two, the length of Amber’s visits will be upped to five days with overnights. Once they get into Phase Three of the plan, the length of Amber’s visits will be determined by the Indiana parenting guidelines.

“But I will, every other month. Damn you, Andrew!”

Back in April, Andrew demanded in court that Amber pay him $125,000 in back child support he says she owes him, $20,000 to cover his lawyer fees, as well as regular weekly child support. 

The judge did not agree with Andrew’s numbers. Instead, the judge ruled that Amber needs to pay Andrew $52,266 in back child support, as well as $3,000 towards his attorney fees. Her child support— which will be paid to Andrew— has been set at $624 a week.

The judge reportedly took into account that Andrew has been living rent-free in Amber’s Indiana home since their split. As The Ashley previously reported, Amber called Andrew “voluntarily unemployed” during their court battle, stating that she has spent more than $80,000 on Andrew’s living expenses since July 2019. 

“Lord give me strength as I write that check each month!”

During that same hearing, Andrew claimed that he was unable to get a job in Indiana in his desired field of cinematography, and claimed had three job offers waiting for him in California. Upon being cross-examined by Amber’s lawyer, however, Andrew admitted that none of the job offers he has are for cinematography jobs. (He stated that one job offer is a real estate job; however, Andrew admitted he does not currently have a real estate license.) 

Although Andrew was granted sole legal and primary physical custody of James, the judge ordered him to “seek out and consider the mother’s opinion before making any major decisions relating to the child’s medical treatment, education and religion.” 

Amber is ordered to continue to work with and follow the instructions of her individual counselor. She and Andrew will both be required to take and submit monthly drug tests for the next six months. 

What I hope happens after each passed drug test…

Back in October 2021, Andrew demanded that Amber be forced to take a drug test because he felt she was exhibiting what he thought was questionable behavior. Both Andrew and Amber ended up taking a court-ordered drug test, which they both passed. 

In May, court docs reported that the Teen Mom OG successfully completed probation for her July 2019 arrest. Her probation terms required her to drug-test at least once a month since October 2019. 

“She submitted 21 negative drug tests and did not miss a scheduled test or test positive for any illicit substances or alcohol,” the court records read.

After the news of the custody ruling broke, Amber went on Instagram Live to say that she is “staying positive” despite the court battle not going her way. She mentioned how close James is to her daughter, Leah (whom she shares with Gary Shirley). 

RELATED STORY: ‘Teen Mom OG’ Star Amber Portwood Completes Probation Three Years After Arrest; Opens Up About How Batterers’ Intervention Program Helped Her

(Photos: MTV)

61 Comments

  1. Amber my granddaughter and I have watched you every since you started your journey on teen mom. You are a amazing person great mother. Of all the different girls on the show. Your journey has been the hardest to overcome so many things. You kept moving on. You remind me of my middle daughter. Bless you and everything you do in your future.


    1. Please give examples of how Ambers self ass has been a great mom. Her own daughter hardly wants anything to do with her because of her behavior and selfishness. I’d hardly call her a mediocre mom, much less a great one. I hope your middle daughter is really not like this lazy , self centered couch dweller.


        1. It’s definitely Bubbie 😂😂😂 always the first to defend his bitch ass sister . Their relationship is weird as hell.


  2. Bout time he can get back to the life he had before amber and give his son the future he deserves. Amber proven who she is as a mom and it’s shitty. amber can’t even find time to see Leah or son on regular schedule. happy he gets to move its beyond time for this. 🚗✌ out


  3. Amber hasn’t been very present in Leah’s life , while living within an hour of her. I don’t forsee her being present in James life while living across the country from him.

    If Amber gave one single F about James, she would relocate to LA and make the transition easier on that baby. Having him travel across country every other month is going to be hard for that little boy.

    Leah is older , has a stable home with her Dad and MOM Kristina. Amber can travel to see Leah instead of making little James fly out to her . But nope…
    But Amber only cares about Amber so that will never happen.


    1. Well it’s not just that Amber only cares about Amber. She clearly isn’t thinking about her son when it comes to all this traveling back and forth she’s probably just reveling in the inconvenience and cost it’s going to be for Andrew to do all this back and forth. Great mom, Ambien. ** slow clap**


  4. I bet that Amber won’t make it out to California ONE TIME to see James! Not once! She can’t make it a 45-minute drive down the road now! SHE HAS NO INTEREST IN HER CHILDREN!! Never has and never will. Poor James and poor Leah. They deserve so much better than Amber for a mother.


  5. I am happy Amber is sober. I do think to move a child that far away from the mother.. if she indeed wants to be involved seems odd to me. Something must have pushed the judge to lean that way. Amber cant gripe about her ex being a leech etc to a judge and then on the same note ask a judge to force him to stay there if he can legit get work in california. The one who loses here and the ONLY one I truly feel sorry for is their child. To be dragged all over for visits is not healthy for him. My son had to go back and forth between cities his whole life and hated it. A child need some consistency. In my opinion she needs to move closer to that baby in california and since she doesnt see leah daily she needs to fly back and forth for visits with her since leah is older and has a stable home. Amber needs to get off teen mom and focus on her college if she still goes and her kids. Money is not everything. She needs to get a real job and focus on herself and her kids.


    1. I thought the same thing: something’s happened not in Amber’s favour for the judge to let Andrew leave with James.

      I agree too – Amber should move to LA & fly herself in the two or three times a year she sees Leah so James has permanent consistency in LA.
      James will miss Gary & Kristina, they’ve babysat him during Amber’s access time so that’ll be sad for them. I wonder if Amber wasn’t a tv STAH & was unknown if she’d keep up this charade of being a ‘damn good mum’.
      Poor James did NOT hit the lottery with his biological parents.


    2. Passing the drug test doesn’t mean she’s sober it just means. That she either has a prescription for the drug she is taking, which doesn’t mean she’s not abusing it. or She’s staying clean long enough to pass.

      Like Leah Messer passed her drug test, but we saw her almost drop that baby because she was nodding out. And she has now admitted she was a drug addict and was prescribed opiates by her doctor.

      I’m not saying she is or isn’t sober, just that passing a court order drug test, doesn’t necessarily mean that she’s sober.


  6. I mean, many of us didn’t think Amber would pass her drug tests, or successfully complete probation, but she did.

    I wouldn’t call myself an Amber fan. She’s done really terrible things, but she also has owned her mistakes, and placed her mistakes for public consumption. She’s judged, every day for her screw ups, without the grace of maturity that the rest of us receive. If the world judged me by my choices at 18, it would be crippling and I don’t suffer from mental illnesses.

    At some point, we as a public have to allow the Teen Mom girls to grow up into women and stop treating them like they are still 18.

    Right now, it is in Amber’s hand the relationship she will have with her son. I hope she surprises us and follows through with the visitation. Maybe some day, James will decide he wants to live with his mom and build a relationship so maybe Amber shouldn’t give up hope. Put in the work, hon. Your kids are worth the effort. Please don’t use this as an excuse to spiral and hurt those in your family and life.


      1. Not sure why my comment above posted here.

        There are ways for addicts to pass drug tests so it doesn’t tell me much that Amber passed.

        Amber does not take accountability for things she has done. It’s everyone else’s fault especially Kristina’s.


  7. Boy Amber probably wore herself out making all these aliases for the ‘go Amber’ comments.

    I can hear the excuses now. ‘It’s too hot out; it was raining; I can’t get off the couch.’ No judge rules in favor of a child moving that far away from a parent unless said parent is unfit.


  8. Why does Amber have to pay Andrew’s attorney fees when his mom is the one paying for it?


  9. Amber purposely moved an hour away from both her kids and then couldn’t even show up every Saturday to see them. Gary and Andrew said back in 2020 she made up all kinds of excuses to not show up. She didn’t want to drive the hour there and back even though she chose to move that far away. If a judge granted in Andrew’s favor she still must not have been making much of an effort. Im sure the first couple times she has to fly to CA she’ll put on a show & do what’s expected..and then it will fade. Gary and Andrew made an effort for James & Leah to connect so it’s sad they won’t see eachother as much anymore…but I get why he wants to be close to his family too..


  10. And I dont think Andrew is any better if a parent, he seems terrible based on his social media presence


  11. I know amber hasn’t pulled her weight with motherhood but I do think she’s trying her best with her son. I know she voices her mental health often for the reason she has the relationships she does and it is not always fair to the kids. I think she is, unfortunately, comfortable with her relationship with leah, but Leah will have to decide how she wants her to be involved. It’s going to be very difficult for James to have these drastic changes in parenting, travel, and environments. It seems like Leah will lose on this relationship as well


    1. Coming at her child with a machete is sure trying her best..Amber put herself in this position, she is not a victim. I do agree she is comfortable not being in Leah’s life, and sadly she will most likely follow suit with James. She is not trying hard enough to be a mother at all.


    2. This won’t last. I agree with what someone else said.. she will do it once or twice but she couldn’t even drive to see Leah when she was an hour away.. I don’t see it lasting


  12. I’m very glad Andrew and James can move to California. Now we’ll truly see if she loves her child as much as she says she does when she has to drive/fly to see him every month or she will come up with some BS excuses a la Jenelle for not flying/driving


  13. She deserved better. On twitter Andrew was a huuuuuge ahole to me and he spoke very badly about women. He is a loser, a leech andI actualy do think he set her up. She was horrible on the show they met but he still chose to have a kid with her in the first week of dating.


  14. I mean once that kid is in California, Amber’s never seeing him again.

    She won’t even drive now to see him now and he lives like 15 mins away, and she won’t drive to see Leah unless she’s getting paid by MTV.

    They will probably never get past stage one.

    In a year if Andrew follows the parenting guideline to a tee including flying him to see Amber even if she doesn’t show up, and has to proof, hotel, fly itinerary, text messages, etc, and he also needs a job, even part time. He can just petition for full custody, and child support. And he won’t have to do this anymore. And if he was smart next time he will file in Califronia, also he has home court advantage.


    1. Andrew is a pos who is an abuser himself! He degrades women so much and he can’t even get off his lazy ass and get a job to support James. He rather sit back and collect money from amber lived in her home for how many years now while she was forced to pay for everything and not allowed to be near her own home! Way to go what an upstanding guy he is! Now he will live off of mommy once back in California he will live in mommies mansion let mommy pay for everything so we should basically say his mommy will be the one to support that pos and then he will live off of the money amber was ordered to pay! Yeah Amber may not be the mom of the year but all of you are commenting like Andrew is this stand up guy gtfoh!!! Amber has a legit mental health illness that seems to get in her way and unfortunately has effected her life in a negative way! I am glad she is getting the help she needs and is being consistent with taking care of her illness. Now you all want to bash her for smoking weed with a prescription for it when probably more then half of you do worse things then that! Yes she has done horrible horrible things and I’m not in anyway saying she was in the right for any of the things she did what I am saying is when a person is in distress suffering from mental illnesses and is pushed and pushed she snapped and broke and could not control her actions! You tell me anyone in their right fame of mind that would be able to deal with the shit she dealt with from that upstanding guy! On another note when suffering from mental illnesses it is very hard for a person to even get out of bed and be productive I do believe she could get a little more help with a structured plan to help her be a more productive person so she will be able to show up when supposed to. I do not agree with missing any visits with your children they are the most important people and she really needs to take accountability for that and start showing up even when she doesn’t want to! Okay I know I’m gonna get blasted for this post but I had to shed light on mental illness because it’s real and it does cause people to do things them normally would not do! What happened to being more supportive? You all are on here bashing her so what does that say about yourselves? Bullies that is what it is stop and think about your life and stop judging someone else’s! A person who lives in a glass house should never throw stones period rant over!!!! Have a good day🤔


  15. WHEWWW that’s a lot of money Ambers gonna owe! The judge made the right decision. Little miss “I’m a damn good mom” has finally been forced to deal with the repercussions of being abusive.


  16. haven’t watched the show since 2020 so idk if amber truly has changed but if she’s as bad with visitation like she is with leah then andrew and james moving to california would probably be the best thing because at least james could say he doesn’t see his mom because she lives out of state. meanwhile with leah she lived closer and would apparently still miss her visits. i get andrew might still be hurt but he has to let the pettiness go, it’s gonna really hurt his son in the long run


  17. Why can she not move past this???
    . Not fair. She has been working so hard to improve. When is enough enough???? We have all made past mistakes


    1. Assaulting both your baby daddies in front of your very child is more of a pattern of erratic and reckless behavior.

      And one could argue she is getting worse because she hit Gary with her hand, she came at Andrew with a weapon.


    2. Mistakes like going to prison, chasing someone with a machete, letting a rando you met at Walmart babysit, hitting your baby daddy, and bumping opioids?

      Sure. We’ve all made those mistakes.


      1. Can definitely say there are a lot of people who have made very poor decisions just hers is broadcasted all over because she is on a tv show!


    3. In order for a judge to grant Andrew sole custody and give permission for him to move out of state she obviously wasn’t doing much to see her son. If she was it wouldn’t have turned out like this.


  18. So will he be enrolled in school for both California and Indiana? When you actually look at the plan and how that would play out in real life, it makes absolutely no sense.

    I do feel some sympathy for Amber. Compared to where she was with Leah at this age, she’s doing a lot better. It’s sad that her kids have to deal with messy visitation schedules. But she did kind of put herself in this situation.


    1. Yeah long term, if Amber follows through and that’s a big IF, it really doesn’t make sense.

      I guess three days now, would be like Friday-Sun. But like how practical is it? If he’s in pre-k, they have to pull him out Friday, and then Andrew has to leave Indiana really early in the morning Monday (maybe with the time difference it can work) or skip that day too. So he’s really only going to school three days for that one week every other month. Not great but okay when he’s 4, but what happens when he’s 7.

      And then Phase 2, he’s not going to school for one week every other month. Huh? Makes no sense.

      I really don’t expect Amber to follow through she doesn’t even follow the custody schedule now and James lives under 20 mins from her. So she’s not getting on a plane every other month. The judge gave him this because she’s not really seeing him. If she saw him every custody period, they would have never allowed this.

      If Andrew is smart, he will not violate the custody, he will fly him out every other month. And just wait at the hotel for Amber to wake up at 3 pm. Maybe take him, maybe say she’s don’t feeling well today. And then Andrew logs everything. And applies for a change in 1 year.

      I have no sympathy for Amber. I have EXTREME sympathy for James and Leah. Amber is doing better now and doesn’t see her daughter. And it’s not her KIDS that have to deal with a messy visitation schedule. Just James. Amber has no set visitation with Leah. Its all based on what Gary will allow. And she still doesn’t show up. Like she has to be paid by MTV to show up and still doesn’t want to.


    2. It won’t affect him at the moment as prob not enrolled in proper school. California you don’t have to be enrolled until you turn 6, but can join TK at four if your birthday is between September and the beginning of February (current rules for the 2022/23 year) So he isn’t eligible for TK and would join K in the 2023/24 year. Sure the visits will change once he is in school – most likely to a school in California and vacations in Indiana model.


  19. I’m not sure how else the judge was supposed to decide… Ambie has A LOT of documentation of red flag behavior. In jail, a book she signed off on, DV charges/video evidence (Garbear), and other than TM, Ambie has NEVER held a stable job.

    Lest we forget the only reason Ambie has any relationship with Lea is because of Garbear & Kristina.

    Next up Andrew, I don’t like the guy, but from a judge’s standpoint:

    – He’s held a job before becoming a parent, having to co-parent with someone *unstable*
    – He would be moving in and live with very well off parents/grandparents to the child.

    This order can always be changed if circumstances change. If Ambie steps up, no issues on UAs or visitations, I have no doubt she can go back to renegotiate. I think people claiming this outcome is awful for Amber aren’t being realistic about Amber.


    1. Sadly, Amber has proof of stable job. She has worked for the same company for over 10 years.

      Now in the real world, Amber wouldn’t have held a job for more than a couple of weeks.

      But she gets to sleep all day, work for 20 hours every couple of months where she just sits on a couch and complains why her kids don’t like her, and then she gets paid hundreds of thousands.


  20. I disagree with the judge. Andrew decided to impregnate Amber knowing she lives in Indiana and has another child. Andrew is lazy and could have easily gotten a job in Indiana he just didn’t want to.

    Both of these parents are gross in their own special ways.


    1. That’s honestly the dumbest argument. Just because something worked 5 year old, does that mean you have to keep doing it no matter what. Like huh?

      I know women who were with a guy for years, had a kid. And then he bounced, either slowly or all at once.

      They were now a single parent, maybe dad shows up once a month for a couple hours, maybe every other month.

      But they don’t have financial support or physical support. And they aren’t from there, their family says hey come home. Your siblings and parents are there, and they can have a relationship with their extended family. Mom offers to babysit so you can work, now you have a village, where before you were on an island alone.

      Should they stay where they are struggling because Dad comes by once in a blue moon? Or make the best decision for themself and their kid?

      Look I really don’t like Andrew, I think he’s weird and creepy, and predatory. But he’s parenting James, every day whether he’s sick or tired. He should up. I don’t really like Gary either, but he’s Leah’s parent, he is there for his daughter no matter what.


  21. Wow that’s crazy…Amber keep your head up and shake all the court shit off your shoulders! U got this girl!! EF the exes and think about your babies!!


      1. Lol a downvote for asking about what happens when he can start school this year? Wow hi Ambie follower


      2. Yep, transitional kindergarten (sometimes referred to as TK or PreK) they start the year in which they turn 5. They are currently expanding it – so it used to be only those who turned 5 by December 2nd could go now it’s those who turn by February 2. In a few years they will have finished expanding and it will be any child who turns five in that academic year.

        No system is perfect but if school is year round so starts before regular school year and if you say they have to turn five in that year that means they must turn four before the first day of regular school year (august 16th) and if you are a year round school year (July 20th) by a fluke a few may be three when starting (turning four on august 15th which is technically before the new official school year).


    1. Bum? Guy has raised her kid and stayed in Indiana for her and she can’t drive the hour to see him on regular schedule. Bout time this guy can get back to the life he had before amber and give his son future he deserves. Amber the bum and shitty mom

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