Christine Brown has lawyered up— and is taking her ex Kody Brown to court!
News broke on Thursday that the Sister Wives star has filed a paternity suit in a Utah court against Kody in regard to Truly, the 14-year-old daughter they share. Christine— who left Kody in 2021 and moved to Utah with Truly— is demanding Kody take a paternity test to show that Truly is his biological daughter. (As ‘Sister Wives’ fans will remember, Christine was Kody’s third wife. Since their marriage wasn’t legal and they weren’t open about being polygamists, Kody’s name didn’t appear on any of the birth certificates for his and Christine’s six kids.) Christine has also filed for child support and custody, but first needs to prove that Kody is indeed Truly’s father before she could get those things.
On September 16, Christine, using her married name “Christine Woolley” filed a “Petition for Declaration of Paternity, Child Custody, Parent Time, and Support.” Although the actual petition has been sealed and can’t be viewed publicly, The Ashley can confirm that a “Domestic Relations Injunction” was also filed alongside Christine’s paternity suit.
This injunction states that neither party can “harass, intimidate or disturb the peace of the other party, by any means, including electronically.” It also forbids both parties from committing “domestic violence or abuse against the other party or a child.”
The injunction also sets rules for both parties when it comes to dealing with Truly while the court case is active. Neither parent can take Truly on a trip unless the other party consents and has the travel details and a way of contacting Truly. They are also forbidden from saying anything to “demean or disparage (talk badly about) [about] the other party” in front of or within earshot of Truly, nor can they “attempt to influence the children’s preference regarding custody or parent time.”
The injunction forbids Kody and Christine from saying or doing “anything that would negatively affect the love and affection of the children for the other party, or involve the children in the issues of the petition.”
Both have to ensure that no one else who is around Truly can do anything that breaks these rules.
That’s not all: Christine’s filing means that her poodle-permed ex will be required to attend both “Mandatory Parenting Courses” and “Divorce Orientation” classes. (Christine is also required to take the courses.) The classes are available online, which will allow Kody— who still lives in Arizona— to complete them within the required 30-day timeframe.
It does not appear that Kody has filed any type of response in the three days since Christine opened the case.
Truly is one of Kody’s three minor children. (The other two are Solomon and Ariella, who live with Kody and his only wife Robyn.) The father of 18 is estranged from many of his adult children, and it’s unknown how his current relationship with Truly is. Last October, Christine explained during an episode of ‘Sister Wives’ that she felt that moving Truly to Utah with her helped preserve the good relationship that existed at the time between Kody and Truly.
“I knew that I was taking Truely away from her dad. I felt like the best way to preserve Truely’s relationship with Kody was to move her away from him. I know it sounds bizarre…it was almost like I froze [their relationship] in time,” Christine said. “I took their relationship while it was still good and I picked it up and I moved it. And then whenever we come back into town, I just pick it up again and I move it back. And it’s preserved.”
During the same episode, Kody gave his thoughts on Christine’s claim that moving helped to keep Kody’s relationship with Truly in a good place.
“For Christine to say that she’s saving her relationship with Truly by taking her away from me and just preserving it, that’s such BS rationalization,” Kody said. “I’m laughing now because it’s ridiculous.”
During a 2022 episode– which was filmed right after Christine told Kody that she was leaving him— Kody made it clear that he didn’t feel that he and Christine needed to involve “the government” to figure out a custody agreement for Truly. Kody was even more adamant that, if it came to a place where he and Christine needed to get a legal child custody agreement, he did not want it to be filed in Utah, as he feels that the state “hates” him.
“You have to have a child custody agreement in place, otherwise the state gets involved,” he says, later telling his ex, “We’re not doing anything ever in Utah. Don’t ever involve Utah. Even if she’s living there, we get a child custody agreement here [in Arizona].”
As The Ashley stated above, Christine went ahead and filed the paternity suit in…UTAH!
