EXCLUSIVE! Barbara Evans Files To Give Jenelle Evans Full Custody of Her Son Jace After Years-Long Battle: Get the Court Case Details!

“Well Juh-nelle, ya can finally have the kid!”

Jenelle Evans has been cryptically hinting lately that she achieved “the impossible,” but the former Teen Mom 2 star hasn’t shared details on what big thing is happening in her life.

Now, The Ashley can confirm that Jenelle has finally (almost) obtained custody of her oldest son, Jace, from her mother Barbara Evans after a years-long battle. Jace, who is now almost 14, has been living with Barbara since he was born. She obtained custody of the boy when he was just a baby, and has fought Jenelle successfully in court multiple times to maintain custody.

According to court records obtained by The Ashley, Barbara has willingly agreed to give custody of Jace back to Jenelle. The Ashley can exclusively reveal that, according to records, a court hearing was held in North Carolina earlier this week for a “modification of custody,” for Jenelle and Jace’s father, Andrew Lewis. (The Ashley is unsure if Andrew attended, though.)

Barbara retained a lawyer for the case but does not appear to be contesting the custody modification in any way this time.

“Break out the brand-name meat snacks, David! We’re celebrating!”

“Jace has become too much to handle for Barbara. That’s the main reason she’s allowing Jenelle to have custody,” a source tells The Ashley. 

Although the modification hearing was held, the custody change does not appear to be official yet and has not taken effect yet. However, Jenelle has had shared custody of Jace for several years.

As fans may remember, Jenelle almost obtained custody of Jace back in January 2021. However, as The Ashley told you at the time, Jenelle opened her mouth a bit early, causing her mom Barbara to pull the plug on the whole plan. Jenelle and Barbara became estranged again for a while after that incident.

(As The Ashley told you in 2021, Jace had been living with Jenelle for a bit, due to Barbara being unable to handle his behavior issues. However, when Barb found out that everyone knew she couldn’t handle Jace, she rescinded the offer to let Jace live with Jenelle.)

@jenellelevans Just the two of us 💗 #MotherAndSon ♬ Lo-fi hip hop – NAO-K

This time around, Jenelle has been keeping the news of the custody change quiet, although she has been hinting over the last week that something big is happening with her custody case. Although she has not directly stated that she is getting full custody of Jace, like she did last time, she did write on social media that she had a “pending case” in court recently, and complained how expensive custody court cases are.

When someone commented on her Facebook page this week about Barbara still having custody of Jace, Jenelle responded, “Can’t wait to share my new[s] to you this week about my case.” 

She also bragged on her Facebook page that she had accomplished something big.

“I’m about to achieve the unthinkable and cannot wait to share the news with everyone,” she wrote on Tuesday. (She did not specify that this post was about getting custody of Jace, though.)

The Ashley will update this story when more info is available. 

RELATED STORY: Former ‘Teen Mom 2’ Dad Nathan Griffith Arrested for Domestic Battery by Strangulation: Get the Latest Details

(Photos: MTV; Instagram; TikTok; Facebook) 

89 Comments

  1. When I was 13, I moved from my emotionally neglectful but mostly decent parent to my “formerly” abusive parent (who love bombed me solidly for most of a year before I accepted that she had changed). You hope that things are going to be better, now. The “changed” parent is on their absolute best behavior, they’re promising you things “if you only lived here,” they’re showcasing their fun lifestyle to you with sad comments about how they wish you could’ve gone with them, and when you have grown up abused your whole life what you want most of all is the love they’re now offering freely. More love than you’ve gotten in your life: warm, friendly, active listening, excited about your goals, offers of support and help. It’s euphoric. You believe them. You forgive them their past evils against you, because the past is the past! They’re changed, and everything is going to be okay from now on. They offer to fix the problems of the home you’re living in now (me: my parents were recluses who kept me extremely isolated because of their mental health and financial situations. Her: oh, you can walk to school so you can go to friend’s houses any time you want! I’ll get you a cell phone so you can just pop over to their house after school if you get a sudden invite! Pretty soon you can drive, I got a car with safety features and lots of storage so you and your friends can take trips in a few years! etc ad nauseum), which are the problems at the top of your mind, not problems from years ago. I bet Jace’s problems are Barb is verbally/emotionally abusive and extremely harsh, probably a lot of rules and not a lot of fun. Janelle has The Land with a bunch of vehicles he can ride, a pool, free reign so long as he can outfight the other feral members of his family, the fantasy of a “real” family with mom and dad (David is creepy, but the cultural narrative we have built around the nuclear family is almost sacred. Jace has never had a family structure that aligned with it before, it might be quite a powerful feeling even if it’s unacknowledged), his moms have spent his entire life using him as a pawn, including Janelle telling him about how she WOULD BE a good mom to him if evil evil Barbara would just LET her- this is now coming true. Barb is “letting” her parent full time, therefore of course it’s going to be great. So many of the problems with his relationship with Janelle were because of problems that are over, of course it’ll be different now.

    Abuse really, really messes with you- your physical brain has structural changes from the c-PTSD, your mindset is completely warped, you have a set of beeped up coping mechanisms you cobbled together just to survive. Once you’re out, you’re worse than a baby because you have to UNLEARN everything, process your trauma, and then learn how to be a human the right way, all while trying to do the regular life stuff. It’s hard, yes. But I don’t think people need to write Jace off as though he’s doomed. Therapy is hard to access and hard work once you’re in, but it’s doable for a lot of people. EMDR (PTSD treatment) is also hard to find, but it’s waaay more popular now so hopefully we see more, easier access to trauma treatments. K and silly sy bean treatments are still in their infancy- barely newborns, still! There are many, many avenues Jace can choose to go down when he’s an adult. Abuse is always a part of your story, but it absolutely does not define us.

    (As an end to my story, my parents told me-multiple times-that if I chose to live with her I had to continue to live with her all of high school because court was too expensive. She flipped after I had a horrible first few months with my new school and went to her in a sobbing meltdown saying I thought I needed to move back because no one liked me. I will never forget the cold way she stared at me with no emotion, and told me to get out and shut the door so she could sleep. Unbeknownst to me, the love bombing started when my parents were asking the courts for child support. Once that was secured, there was no need for pretense any longer. High school was torment, I was deeply, DEEPLY depressed and wouldn’t ya know it? Isolated anyway! I went no contact when she tried to mess with my kid, because see above: abuse messes your brain up big time and I didn’t think it was “enough” that she hurt me. That entire side of the family went no contact with me in vengeance (?). While painful, it’s a blessing: if you wanna be in my family circle you now have to pass tests (Are you respectful and caring? Do I feel good around you/after seeing you the majority of the time? Do you love me?) that my biofamily just can’t pass. My dad recently expressed shock at how miserable I was as a teen- “why didn’t you just tell us? We would’ve gotten you!” Because you literally told me you would NOT come and get me? What??!)


  2. Let’s all be honest, Jace was right where he needed to be while Jenelle grew up. She is in her 30’s now and it’s definitely time for her to have her son home. We may not like everything she does but she loves her kids. If we all got together in a room and talked we would find many things about one another to not like. She just happens to live on social media.


  3. If it is true that Barb rescinded her offer after Jenelle so much as told people it was about to happen, jerking Jace around yet again, then she’s almost as big of a piece of shit (spits) as Jan. Honestly at this point which is worse & does it even matter? The kid is f&*ked either way


  4. I’m convinced Jace will want to live with them because he can be a dick, at best, all he wants. (At worst, the next mass shooter).


  5. Jace was dealt a shitty hand in life. I hope that he turns out to be a successful adult who defies the odds. I just don’t know that will happen.


  6. I’m glad. Not that I think the situation is better at Jenelle’s but Barbara used to always use Jace against her. She would promise if she did x, y and z she could have him back. Jenelle would try and make progress and then Barbara would pick a fight with her so she didn’t have to give him back. She used him as a pawn and now that it’s no longer convenient for her to keep him she is dropping him like a hot potato. She is a horrible mother and grandmother. There is a reason Jenelle turned out the way she did. Given that Jenelle has custody of her two other children despite CPS being aware of them I always felt he was better off with his mom. I know statistically he doesn’t likely have a good future but I really hope he can be the exception.


    1. I think we may have watched a different show. The Jenelle I saw never had her life together. She now lives with a guy that will viciously murder a dog in front of a toddler. That’s a better place to live?!


    2. He will have zero chance with his mother and the abuser. David is a vicious and cruel psychopath that gets off on abusing Kaiser and animals. I’m not sure how he will do with Jace. Since Jace is 14 now, he can probably defend himself against David.


    3. You mean like Jenelle did with Nathan? Or have we forgotten how Jenelle would withhold Kaiser from visits with his father because she didn’t approve of the furniture he had in his house?


      1. Right, I wonder where she picked up that shi*ty behavior/pattern. I am no Janelle defender but she never had a chance just like Jace doesn’t now…


        1. I think she got her behavior from Barb to be honest. I feel bad that Jenelle never had her father in her life (maybe if she had then she’d be a different person) but after seeing how Barb withheld Jace from her (understandably so) then seeing how she withheld Kaiser from Nathan because he didnt prove to her that he had the furniture he said he had (which i think is petty, why should he have to prove anything to her?), I have to wonder if maybe that’s why Jenelle’s dad stayed away? Maybe he couldn’t stomach Barb’s behavior.

          It’s pathetic how parents can’t put a civilized front on when it comes to their kids!! I mean, if you can’t get along that’s one thing, but at least pretend in front of the kids!!!


  7. Jenelle really doesn’t want custody of Jace, she just wants to be able to say she won. Jace is already having a boatload of issues and I predict there will be a whole lot more to come. David better keep those guns locked up or someone (or everyone) is going to end up in the line of fire. The big benefits for Jenelle are: she can say she beat Barb, she can have control of Jace’s trust fund and she can take all Jace’s Adderall and then brag on SM that she’s hitting the gym to lose the weight. She’s pathetic. Jace has never had a stable life and I’m afraid he’ll be in jail within 5 years or less.


    1. You’re right. Didn’t think about her taking his adderall, dropping the weight, and then trying to convince people it was the gym.
      She admitted a few times on the show that she didn’t give jace his medication when he went to her house bc she felt he didn’t need it.
      Poor Jace. I hate it for him.


    1. I think now Jenelle makes most of your money from the tiktok creator fund.

      She has 2.9 million followers there. In her last 20 videos, the lowest views were ~100k, but she averages >500k per video. A lot of her videos she has millions of views. So I’m sure she does well.


    2. Neither of them work, but Jenelle makes porn videos on Only Fans and Tik-Toc. She dances around naked for people who like to see her fat jiggle around. I’m also told that the two of them do sex acts on their Only Fans site. So there you have it. A fourteen year old boy will be living with these freaks and all of his school friends will tease him about his mom doing porn.


  8. That child was concieved in chaos, carried in chaos, born into chaos and raised in chaos. Screams are essentially the soundtrack to this child’s life. Now with teenage hormones, I am 0% shocked he is difficult behaviorally. That behaviour must be normal to him.


  9. Jenelle never “shared custody”. Barb had full custody while jenelle had visitation, left to Barbs discretion.


  10. So sad. Tbey traumatised him from day 1 and the only thing he sees at the land is violence. He is going down the wrong path..
    I can’t blame Barbara. Sbe tried.


  11. I think we all knew there was a possibility that Jace would become too much for Babs to handle, considering who his biological mother is and what she put him through as a child. Since birth, the kid didn’t stand a chance. If he’s too much for Babs, it’s only a matter of time before David pops his collar bone just like he did Jenelles…or pistol whips him like he did Jenelles friend. It’s kind of scary to imagine where Jace will be once he turns 21.


    1. I agree. Jenelle chose to smoke we*d during all of her pregnancies. Jace has ADHD. I think having more stimulation with siblings, more outdoor space, and pets may be beneficial to Jace. Jenelle is also younger than his grandma and would have more energy and be able to relate to him better.

      Like you stated, the owners of the land can be unhinged and no one knows how Jace feels about any of this. I can’t imagine growing up with all that screaming was healthy for him…


      1. Hopefully part of the “stimulation” isn’t watching a dog be murdered viciously right in front of him. How anyone would think Jace is better off on The Land, is beyond me. Nugget is only one example of many of why that place is a terrible place to raise a child.


        1. I said the owners of the land were unhinged. I also have spoken out against Jenelle and David’s antics for several years now..I assumed unhinged got the message across, but apparently not.


  12. So far the reports have really only outlined how Jenelle and Barb feel about this new arrangement. Still, I can’t help wondering how “Jace” himself feels about it.

    Is he truly looking forward to it? Or, maybe a bit apprehensive about it due to what he grew up witnessing during his scheduled visits to The Land.

    Like David murdering a defenseless little dog named Nugget. Or, Jenelle pulling out a loaded gun and aiming it at a man during a traffic dispute. Or, David constantly punching Kaiser in the head when he was younger. Or, David locking both Jace and Kaiser out of the house in the boiling hot sun in the middle of summer. Or, how Jace once told Barb “on camera” during a TM episode that Jenelle and David were pieces of sh*t.

    Again, just wondering what must be going through Jace’s own mind about this new development—while constantly wishing this poor kid the best.


    1. I have a feeling Jace is thinking the grass might be greener. He’s probably tired of Babs giving him a hard time when he misbehaves. Jenelle is always bitching about her mom so he probably feels like he can relate to that. I wonder if he will be sorry once he actually lives with Jenelle. I know I went through it as a kid and really regretted moving in with my dad. Mom and dad both sucked but I thought my dad would be the lesser of the two evils. Ended up moving back with my sucky mom because it wasn’t as bad.


  13. I’m worried about Jace. I’m afraid that UBT will try to discipline him violently. I’m also worried that he’s starting to do drugs with Jenelle. I can totally imagine her thinking she’s a cool mom “teaching” her 14-year-old son about marijuana.


    1. Exactly what I’m worried about too! UBT getting violent under the guise of ‘parenting’, Jenelle too lazy to parent & letting UBT do anything to her kids ala Kaiser. And Jace being offered an assortment of drugs & alcohol as a ‘joke’ from these two jackasses who I wouldn’t trust with my pet rock.
      I used to like Babs & cheered her on when Jace was a baby…..but Babs created Jenelle and now she’s given up on Jace. I think Jenelle’s likely constantly hounded her for Jace and Jace’s needs have wore her down.
      Jenelle’s kids really hit the sh*t lottery in life 😕


    2. God I didn’t even think of that but I wouldn’t be surprised.

      As I watched the video all I could think of was that Jace is stuck in a cycle. Living with Jenelle full time is going to make it even harder to not be like her.


    3. I think Jace & UBT will get a long just fine, probably too well. I cant imagine David has many friends. Jace will be his little sidekick. I always felt as if he liked Jace a bit more, maybe because he is around less or because he could report happenings on the land back to Barb? Idky but I don’t see David getting physical with him but he’s also obv. a loose cannon so who could say… It seems everyone is going to have to learn the hard way


  14. I wonder how much this “I would never keep my child’s father away from him like Olivia does” is going to age now.
    Jace’s dad was interested but had/ has many issues. Same goes for Kaiser’s father.
    Jenelle will probably use that against them “to protect her child”, while Sophia has offical court documents saying she should protect her son and doesn’t owe the father anything, especially as the boy doesn’t want contac. David didn’t follow the court orders that told him when he could call his son. The boy was dissapointed again.
    Now he just harasses Olivia two or three times a week whenever he feels like it and has Jenelle call her out on social media so she will receive more harassment from other trashbag idiots.


  15. After years of Babs raising two of her grandchild, she’s tired and wants to retire.

    Is it the best choice, probably not. But you know there is a reason all three of Babs kids are messes.


  16. How can Jenelle have all her kids but David can’t have his son? What did he do to loose all custody of his son? Whatever David did doesn’t that affect Jenelle custody cases? Hopefully Jenelle doesn’t have her hands on Jaces money. 🙄


    1. He beat up his pregnant girlfriend and left her on the side of the road.

      She had to get an order of protection against him.

      Never forget UBT is an abusive and dangerous person.


      1. Iam saying is why Jenelle can have her kids around David. When David obviously did something to loose all custody of his son. Why’s it ok to have some kids around him but not others. Why can’t the courts keep them all away from him?


    2. Kaden’s mom did report the abuse she and her child suffered from David, unlike Jenelle.

      And you bet Jenelle is going to manage Jace’s money and make sure it benefits her.
      They’ll pay for education, sports and counseling when the other kids need it but she will use Jace’s trust fund for his expenses and save money.
      That’s the minimum she’ll do to his trust fund.
      “Educational activities and holidays” for the whole family, etc.


  17. This isn’t good. Jace obviously is having severe behavioral issues and Barbara can’t handle it anymore. The boy grew up with crazy people and didn’t have his father or any positive male role model in his life. He was doomed to have problems. Very sad.


  18. Good for Janelle! I’ve seen her making great progress over the last couple of years. She’s come a long way from getting into a fist fight with BFF Tori.


    1. Oh get a clue! She stood by while David beat Kaiser multiple times, beat and shot her dog, killed the family goat and ate it, calls Kaiser “a little bitch” and worse. Encourages Eggsley to make fun of Kaiser and call him an ass-hole. What is wrong with you? Hopefully you don’t have kids!


    2. Progress? How exactly is she making progress? You do realize that she is still married to a dog killing maniac and that the only income they have is what she gets from doing porn, right?


      1. I never thought that Barbara was a good “mother figure” for Jace. Besides, working at Walmart, she has a DUI and has struggled with alcohol herself. That is why Janelle and Nathan confronted Babs drinking the large margarita for lunch.


        1. So what if Barb worked at Walmart? Jenelle sells naked pictures of herself for a living, so what’s the more honorable job choice? And Nathan had the DUI, not Barb. Oh, and it was DAVID & Jenelle who harassed Barb outside of the restaurant, not Nathan. Why do you think it’s OK for Jenelle to drink multiple margaritas for lunch (breakfast & dinner) & David to pound down Coronas, then both of them get high day in and day out & drive with the kids in the car, but Barbara gets condemned for drinking a glass of wine at dinner (not lunch)? Nice try there, Skippy. But Jenelle & David are addicts who need intervention, rehab, and a whole lot of follow up mental care.


  19. So Barb can’t handle his behavioral issues anymore and is basically handling him over to her? That’s not a win, you absolute POS. Your mother is tired and AFTER 14 YEARS OF DOING YOUR JOB she’s throwing the towel. I hope David won’t beat the crap out if him at the first sassy comment any teenager will do


      1. Janelle just wants Jace for the welfare. Guaranteed because of his behavior issues she will try to get him on disability. She has him for a baby sitter now too so she can get high in her shed. So very sad for those children.


        1. I wonder if Jace is on SSDI because of the ADHD? If so, that’s another benefit for Jenelle. I know a number of people who got SSDI for their kids because of ADHD & they get something like $800/month in cash plus full Medicaid for the “disabled” child. Plus, with the Medicaid, Jenelle won’t have to pay for the Adderall that she’s taking instead of giving to her son.


  20. Grandmas get old and Barb has earned some damn peace.

    That said: sorry Jace 😥 Dealt a shit hand and it’s gonna take a lot of work as an adult for you to not be a piece of shit like your parents. Been there, kiddo.


    1. I’d be willing to bet he’s already sexually active and Barb wanted to get rid of him before he knocked up some girl and she had to raise her great grandchild too?


      1. I agree. As I was watching Jenelle’s video, I was thinking there’s a teen pregnancy in his future when he has Jenelle guiding him.


        1. Plus Jace had Barb “guiding him” for 14 years…she created Jenelle to be what she is.

          I feel so sorry for that poor boy!!


      2. Maybe janelle is encouraging jace to be sexually active so he can knock up some girl in his teens as well and then pitch his own teen mom spin off to MTV to keep the paychecks coming!? That’s wild I wouldn’t doubt it!


  21. My heart hurts for him; it was clear that his birth mother wasn’t interested in being his mother and now, 14 years later, his surrogate mother (his grandmother) can no longer handle him. Teenaged boys are no joke, even when they’ve had a relatively stable upbringing in a two-parent home.

    I’m not very optimistic about his future, but I am a firm believer that anything is possible. I hope he will rise above the ashes and become a productive, contributing member of society.


    1. Always figured the day would come when Babs could no longer handle Jace. I believe she’s in her late 60’s and she’s probably too worn out to handle Jace’s behavioral issues. Of all of the TM kids born to garbage parents, he is the number one on the list that should have been adopted. Jace probably still would have issues, but he would have fared much better with stable parents who have resources like Brandon’NTheresa. I had a neighbor who was adopted at birth with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. He was lucky and his adoptive parents were the most stand-up people. He gave his parents plenty of grief and heartache over the years and still has his issues. However, now in his early 50’s he managed to avoid legal trouble throughout his life, has a stable job and provides for his daughter. He would be incarcerated, dead or homeless if not for his parents and he knows it. Even Carly would have fared better with Cate and Ty when they were young and poor (although still for the best she was adopted) compared to having Janelle as a womb provider who dumped the kid on her stressed out mom who already had a short fuse.

      All we can do is hope for the best with him – he and Kaiser were dealt really crappy hands in life. They don’t live in poverty, but everything else about living with the swamp creatures is deeply concerning. Maybe Jace can go into the military immediately after high school and get the heck away from the unstable adults in his life. Even the Cauldron or Kail’s rotating door of baby daddii is better than The Swamp.


      1. I doubt David will hurt Jace. He beats Kaiser because he hates him, as he has said. I don’t think he hates Jace. Besides, David probably knows that he can’t scare a 14 year old like he can little Kaiser.


          1. Uhhh, in what way is this gross? It’s the absolute truth as you well know. David said that he hated Kaiser because of Nathan. And Jace is 14 years old so David can’t torment him the way he does little Kaiser. What is the problem with this statement?


        1. If Lurch will hit Jenelle, why wouldn’t he do it to Jace? He literally murdered a dog in front of his toddler daughter. He’s a complete psycho.


    1. Is that true? I wonder to where cuz I don’t believe her mother could have custody either (obv that could of changed.) I’m curious if this is legit…


      1. Yeah that’s what I thought, her mom wasn’t granted custody. @TheAshley do you happen to know if Maryssa still lives there? I hope she could escape.


        1. Maryssa lives with her maternal grandmother and has for some time now. She visits Swamplandia occasionally but isn’t living there.


  22. I hope Jace can rise above this shit show of a family and be a productive, upstanding member of society. Best wishes to him.


  23. Congratulations Jenelle, you’re getting him back by default bc Babs doesn’t want him to burn her house down 👏

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