Jenelle Evans Is Still Responsible For Her Kids ‘Financially’ Despite Losing Custody — Lawyer Explains

Jenelle Evans is still required to support her children, even though she lost custody of them. A lawyer explained to HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY why the reality star remains ‘financially responsible’ for her kids.

Jenelle Evans may not have custody of her children right now, but she can’t stop supporting them. Currently, Jenelle’s three children, Kaiser, Jace, and Ensley, are in the custody of the reality star’s mom Barbara, but according to a lawyer, their grandmother isn’t obligated to pay their way – that remains the 27-year-old mom’s job.

“Jenelle is still financially responsible for her children while they stay with other family members after being removed from her care, along with any of the respective fathers that have a child support order in place,” J. Brad Champion, a North Carolina-based family attorney tells HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY.

So far the loss of custody isn’t permanent, but if it were to become that way, Jenelle’s mom would not inherently become the primary caregiver. “Barb would not automatically get custody in this case even if Jenelle is permanently deprived of custody,” Champion explains. It’s still unclear when and if Jenelle will be able to see her kids without supervised visits going forward.

The custody ruling came after the former Teen Mom star’s husband David Eason, 30, shot and killed the family’s dog, Nugget. A judge determined that their home was unsafe for the three children and MTV terminated Jenelle’s main cast member role on the show. David, however, is only the biological father of Jenelle’s youngest child Ensley, 2, (as well as a daughter from a previous relationship, Maryssa, who he also temporarily lost custody of); Jenelle’s two boys have two different dads who could potentially gain custody during this process.

Jenelle’s ex Nathan Griffith, 31, has the potential to win full custody of his and Jenelle’s 4-year-old son Kaiser. “This certainly helps Nathan’s case to fight for full custody of Kaiser,” Champion says. “However, that is ultimately dependent on all relevant facts, which will include the circumstances under which Jenelle has temporarily lost custody.” Jenelle also shares son Jace, 9, with ex Andrew Lewis.

After the custody news broke in late May, a rep for Jenelle provided the following statement to HollywoodLife: “At this time we are cooperating with the judge and legal team from court. We have no comment at this time and appreciate concerns regarding our client and her children. We will continue to corporate with the court and their decisions.”