Halle Berry is seeking sole custody of her son, Maceo, claiming that his father, Oliver Martinez, “refuses to co-parent or communicate in a child-centered way.”
Weeks after The Union actress, 58, alleged that her ex-husband, also 58, failed to continue seeing a co-parenting coach — and after a source told PEOPLE that co-parenting “hasn’t been easy” for the former spouses — Berry filed a request for sole legal custody of their 10-year-old son on Friday, Aug. 16.
Per legal documents obtained by PEOPLE, Berry is requesting custody, “or in the alternative, tie-breaking authority to make all decisions” about his education, health and therapy needs.
The documents, filed in the Superior Court of California in Los Angeles County, arrive a year after they finalized their divorce, nearly eight years after their 2015 split. At the time, they agreed to share joint legal custody of their son, with Berry paying Martinez $8,000 a month in child support and an additional “4.3% of any income she receives above $2,000,000.”
In the latest filing, Berry claims she’s made an effort to address her son’s “educational challenges” and additional behavioral concerns as she “fought for tutoring, an educational assessment and finding an environment that was suitable to Maceo’s needs.”
The filing alleges that Martinez, however, has been “oppositional, unmoving and withheld his consent for years.”
“Because of Respondent’s opposition to any interventions whatsoever for years and because of Respondent’s prioritizing soccer activities over Maceo’s educational and psychological well-being, Maceo’s educational and behavioral challenges worsened, and he continued to fall further behind in school,” the document alleges.
Specifically, Berry claims that Maceo would “act out” toward her following “longer periods of custody” with his father and that her son would “repeat disputes” that the former couple had in private. She alleges that Martinez claimed the boy was “old enough to make his own decisions.”
A lawyer for Martinez told PEOPLE that he will be “responding to these allegations” in the coming weeks. A representative and a lawyer for Berry did not respond to PEOPLE’s requests for comment.
Berry’s legal team argues in the filing that Martinez “ignores the professionals hired to help Maceo, and he aggressively stands in the way of implementing strategies and interventions to assist Maceo,” and alleges that Martinez has interfered with “custodial rights, [withheld] information from Petitioner, [made] unilateral decisions on Maceo’s behalf, [involved] Maceo in the parties’ conflict, and [refused] to follow the recommendations of Maceo’s school.”
“To summarize, Respondent refuses to co-parent or communicate in a child-centered way or make child-centered decisions, which interferes with getting Maceo the help he needs,” the filing alleges. “By refusing to communicate, withholding consent, or deferring decisions, he has effectively delegated to himself sole decision-making authority in violation of the parties’ Stipulated Judgment.”
A source told PEOPLE in early August that Berry and her ex-husband have “very different parenting styles,” and that “they both love Maceo” — whom they welcomed in October 2013.
The former couple have previously agreed to meet with a coach to “resolve disputes and conflicts between them in an effort to successfully co-parent” Maceo, per court papers obtained by PEOPLE in May.
In a later filing, Berry claimed Martinez “unilaterally terminated” coaching sessions without telling her or the coach. While she asked the court to “enforce Olivier’s compliance” with their agreement, a judge denied the request due to a “lack of exigent circumstances,” or not deeming it an urgent matter.
Berry and Martinez first met in 2010 and split in October 2015 after two years of marriage. Since 2020, the actress has been linked to musician boyfriend Van Hunt.
“She’s incredibly happy with Van. He’s always her biggest fan. They are great together,” the source said earlier this month. (People)