There have been many blogs written on this site about the ongoing custody war between Rob Kardashian and Blac Chyna. Now, it appears that the parties have settled the case. Rob and Blac Chyna Settle Custody War - Abuse Allegations Dropped…For a Price, tmz.com, September 15, 2017. The parties have agreed to share joint custody of their 10-month-old daughter, Dream. Despite the fact that Rob will get slightly more than 50% of the time with Dream, he has agreed to pay Chyna child support - though it is not anywhere near the amount that Chyna originally demanded. During the initial negotiations, Rob refused to pay more than $10K/month in child support while Chyna wanted more than $50K/month. After much back and forth, Rob agreed to pay $20K/month in exchange for Chyna's agreement to drop her domestic violence allegations against him.
It is wonderful that these two parties were able to settle their ongoing custody battle and now can hopefully focus on co-parenting Dream. However, one should not ignore the fact that Chyna dropped her domestic violence allegations against Rob in order to do so. As a reminder, Chyna got a restraining order against Rob just a few months ago after he allegedly abused her. Now, the domestic violence protections are no longer in place. This could have a couple implications. Assuming Chyna's domestic violence allegations were based in fact and she truly fears for her safety around him, she has now lost the protection and whatever restrictions were put in place by the Judge based upon her abuse allegations. In addition, if there is another violent incident with Rob, she may feel that she cannot go to court to get the protection she needs due to the custody arrangement. Alternatively, if there is another incident and she does go to court, a Judge may be less likely to believe her allegations given that she dismissed them in exchange for more child support money. Thus, while it is legal to use the dismissal of a domestic violence allegation as a bargaining tool in negotiations, one must think through the possible implications before agreeing to do so.