The divorce between ex-Spice Girl Mel B and Stephen Belafonte is extremely contentious and bitter with allegations of extreme domestic violence made by Mel B against Belafonte. The parties have a 5-year-old daughter, Madison, together and Mel B also has a 10-year-old daughter, Angel, with comedian Eddie Murphy. In her divorce filing, Mel B is seeking sole custody of Madison. Stephen Belafonte Will Seek Visitation of Eddie Murphy's Daughter, by TMZ Staff, tmz.com, April 11, 2017. Belafonte is seeking joint custody of Madison, but also wants the legal right to maintain a relationship with Angel.
Belafonte's request for visitation with Angel brings up some interesting issues. Like in Georgia, custody and visitation issues in California are determined by a "best interests of the child" standard. Under California law, a stepparent can get visitation if it is in the child's best interests. For Belafonte's part, he alleges that Murphy has not been very present in Angel's life and he, not Murphy, has been Angel's father figure since she was born, as he married Mel B when she was two months old. In opposing Belafonte's visitation with Angel, Mel B will likely bring up the domestic abuse allegations as support for getting sole custody of Madison and for keeping Belafonte away from Angel. In addition, there is no indication that Murphy has given up parental rights to Angel. Thus, even though he has allegedly not been a very present father to her, as a legal parent he will still have a say in whether Belafonte can have visitation with her.
A Judge looking at this case will weigh all these issues in determining whether continuing a relationship with Belafonte is in Angel's best interest. On the one hand, he appears to have been the only consistent father figure in her life since she was born. However, on the other hand, there are strong allegations of domestic violence against him and, even if the violence was not directly against Angel, the actions themselves will likely tip the scale against visitation.