Twitter owner Elon Musk made an appearance at a Formula One event in Texas, carrying his son X on his shoulders.
There’s an ongoing parental rights battle between Musk and his sometimes-partner, musician Grimes. Last month, Musk filed his parental rights lawsuit against Grimes in Texas.
Notably, the 52-year-old billionaire is seeking to “establish the parent-child relationship” with the three kids he shares with Grimes (Claire Boucher).
Grimes filed her own suit in California a few weeks later seeking primary physical custody and joint legal custody of the three children.
The case currently revolves around where the children’s primary residence is. This will also determine where the case will be heard.
Elon Musk Vs. Grimes: Custody battle
Grimes says she moved to California with their one-year-old children Exa and Tau last year. However, Musk claims the two children lived in Texas until July.
Also, Grimes’ October 6 request for Musk’s case to be thrown out suggests X is “only absent from California over [Boucher’s] objection”.
Meanwhile, X has been attending live interviews and SpaceX rocket launches and even meeting with international leaders with his dad.
Unsurprisingly, X was spotted waving at the F1 crowd from inside Musk’s Cybertruck on Sunday. He was then seen on his shoulders in the pit lane.
Photos of the father and son watching the action from the Mercedes Garage at the event have surfaced online. Jurisdiction, attorneys with expertise in family law previously told Insider that X’s appearance at the event has sparked a key issue in the current custody battle.
#ElonMusk spotted at Formula One event in Texas with son X. pic.twitter.com/cSgX6zCaTZ
— Vinay Patel (@VinayPatelBlogs) October 25, 2023
Since the case will go forward in whichever state the children live, the lawyers believe there is a possibility that Musk and Grimes could spend the next year trying to prove to the court that the children live in the state they each filed in.
The process of proving which state the kids live in involves consulting flight logs and interviews with nannies. Likewise, the judges in each state could consult with each other to determine the final venue for the case to move forward.
It will be interesting to see whether the case involves child support judgments, It is worth noting that Texas caps monthly child support payments at $1,840 for one child or $2,760 for three children.
So, it is safe to say that Texas won’t spit out a value any higher than that despite Musk’s billionaire status. According to Peter M. Walzer, who is a partner at Walzer Melcher, if Grimes manages to prove the children live in California, it could turn out to be “one of the biggest child support cases of all time”.
