BFFs, you want to see Elin get custody of the kids & take them overseas — but our experts say it’s not that simple!
When it comes to the custody battle over Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren‘s children — Sam, 2, and Charlie, 1 — our BFFs are totally Team Elin! Not only did 61 percent of you say Elin should get full custody of the children, but a TON of you also say Elin should take them both to live in Sweden. But when HollywoodLife.com took the issue to our legal experts, we came back with not-so-good news for you members of Team Elin.
Despite the fact that Elin reportedly wants to move away from their house in Florida to the $2.2 million home she bought on an island near Stockholm, Sweden, Chris Mancini, a divorce attorney in South Florida, told us Elin can’t take little Charlie and Sam anywhere without Tiger’s permission. “In the event that Tiger [Woods] objects to the terms [of her taking them out of Florida], he can go to court … and stop her from doing it,” Mancini (who isn’t involved in the case) said. “She won’t be allowed to take the kids without a signed agreement.”
Something tells us Tiger won’t be too eager to sign away his children to live in his wife’s native country… even if he hasn’t exactly been father of the year! And if Elin does try to take Sam and Charlie to Sweden, Florida state law would even permit Tiger to freeze Elin’s passport!
And here’s more bad news for Team Elin: Mancini predicts that the judge presiding over Elin and Tiger’s case probably won’t give sole custody to her. Mancini said she’s more likely to get primary residential custody, which means the children would live with her and Tiger would have open visitation rights.
“Tiger is not an unfit father just because he screws around on his wife,” Mancini told us. “He only loses visitation if he abuses or neglects [them].”
But LA-based attorney Steve Cron says us that Elin still has a chance of getting primary custody, and would be favored as the better parent in a court of law. “When you’re looking at custody and who’s the better parent, he clearly is the worse one,” Cron said. “He [was] out perusing around at bars and sleeping around with a wide variety of women.”
So basically, even though Elin is CLEARLY the better parent (our BFFs and our experts agree), it’s still very unlikely she’d be able to take the kids to live away from Tiger in Sweden. Are you still holding out hope that Elin will be able to take Sam and Charlie to live with her in Sweden?