Legal custody of Aaron Carter‘s one-year-old son, Prince, has been awarded to Aaron’s fiancée and Prince’s mother Melanie Martin, TMZ reported on Thursday, Dec. 15. The outlet said a Los Angeles court found that Prince would be safe back in his 29-year-old mother’s arms during a hearing earlier Thursday afternoon. HollywoodLife confirmed the news via a representative for Aaron. “Aaron’s ex, Melanie, did get full custody of their son Prince after she was deemed fit by the California courts,” the rep shared. “His family wants whatever is best for Prince and they would love to be part of Prince’s upbringing.”
Aaron and Melanie lost custody of their child, who they welcomed into the world in Nov. 2021, about a month before Aaron’s unexpected death. Prince was placed under the care of Melanie’s mother at the time. “I’m honoring Aaron today and I know he would be so proud of me,” Melanie told TMZ as she left New York to pick up Prince, who was in California at the time the decision was made. “I’m very emotional thinking we could have been a family, but Aaron would be so happy knowing I got him back.”
As fans know, Aaron tragically passed away at the age of 34 at his home in Lancaster, Calif. on Nov. 5. Two weeks after the former child star’s shocking death, his representative revealed to HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY that Melanie’s mother would continue to care for Prince. “Everyone agrees that he is in the best place for him to be right now,” they noted.
A person close to Aaron told HL that Aaron was thrilled to celebrate his only child’s first birthday — a milestone he did not reach. “He was really excited to see Prince on his birthday,” the source said, also noting that the singer was going to “shower” his son with presents. “He had said that being a father was the most amazing thing that happened to him and he was really trying to get his life back in order so that he be a present father to his boy,” they added.
Aaron had been honest about his struggles with substance abuse over the years and opened up about his several stints in rehab in a recent interview. “I took a break since 2017,” Aaron explained in an interview he taped with Press Pass LA shortly before his death. “I needed to go to rehab. I think I grew into the real, true, authentic version of myself. I went to rehab four times until I finally got it right.”
He was also trying to correct his wrongs with those around him before his death and even ended his very public feud with his older brother Nick Carter before he died. “Aaron was happy about this because he loved his brother,” his rep told HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY. “He looked up to Nick in so many ways. They were trying to make everything good again.”