One of the things I like most about “Family Court” is the opportunity we have to explore conflicts that arise between family members and see them brought to a unifying resolution. No family is exempt from conflict or disagreements and so seeing them played out in a television courtroom setting will resonate with practically every viewer. And let’s not forget, this stuff is just downright entertaining. We head into our first week of production today and here are a few cases that we’ll be taking on in the early days of “Family Court.”
GO BACK TO SCHOOL AND LEARN HOW TO BE A MOM 19 year old Carrie is suing her mother Christine, who is 38, asking that her mother be ordered into parenting classes. Carrie says that her mother does not provide any emotional support for her or her brother Russell. Carrie was left in Texas on her own for the last 2 months of high school, that she provides cigarettes for Russell who is underage, that mom is selfish and abandoned her kids mentally and physically when they needed her most – during adolescence. Mom Christine says she did what she had to do to save her marriage to husband Clint (not the kids’ father) and that it’s time for these kids to grow up and find their own lives as adults while she focuses on her own life and marriage.
TEENAGER TAKES ON DAD’S PREGNANT GIRLFRIEND 17 year old Nadine is suing her father Antonio for damages to the two family cars. She is angry that her father left the family and has taken up residence with his pregnant 25 year old girlfriend Tina (who is a witness). Nadine says that while she and her mother were at a family funeral in Turkey, her father and Tina took the cars without permission. The Buick sustained significant damage; the Mercedes is missing. Antonio wants to counter-sue his daughter for damage she inflicted on Tina’s car last week. Nadine admits she threw a brick through the window of Tina’s car but says her father’s behavior has so enraged and hurt her that she had no choice but to lash out.
MOM ENCOURAGES TEEN TO BE VIDEO GAME ADDICT Mike is suing his soon-to-be-ex-wife Samantha because she has allowed their 12 year old son to eat, drink, live and breathe video games and nothing else. The boy is allowed to play all kinds of video games without supervision of any sort. Mom says this is all just fine with her because she hopes that the boy will become a professional gamer. Dad is appalled that the son is being allowed to become so singularly obsessed and encouraged to throw his life away on games. He is suing to ask the judge to force Mom to take the child to lessons and activities of other sorts.
MY DAUGHTER THINKS SHE’S A SHOPPING DIVA Felicia, age 43, is suing her 16 year old daughter Sabrita to recover the money she spent on Sabrita’s credit card and cell phone bills. Although Sabrita has a part-time job, she spends every dime she earns on clothing. Sabrita claims it’s in her blood to be a shopping diva and in fact wears a necklace which says “shopping diva.” Mom is disgusted and wants to teach her daughter a lesson about making it in the real world, not Sabrita’s fantasy land.
MOM IS NOT REJOICING OVER TEEN’S BAD BEHAVIOR 32 year old Sakeya is suing her 12 year old daughter Rejoice to force the child into a counseling program. Sakeya has attacked her siblings and mother and mom lost her job because she had to leave so many times to deal with Rejoice getting into trouble at school. She has tried to get Rejoice into counseling, but Rejoice deliberately clams up and says there’s no problem and we’re all wasting her time by dragging her into therapy or court. Mom will be seeking a creative sentence here, not monetary damages.
OUR SON IS A SCREW-UP 27 year old Steve and his mother Judy are suing her other son, 29 year old John, for approximately $3,000 (specific amount to be determined) which John has stolen from her credit card and bank accounts in the last year. John is a substance abuser who lives at home with Judy. The problems with John stem back to his adolescence when he was badly beaten by some kids at school and since then he has been experimenting with drugs, not holding down a steady job, unable to get his life together. He has sought free counseling but he didn’t like it and got kicked out. He admits he has an anger problem and knows he’s a “screw up.” John also admits he did take the money but should not be held responsible because “that was the drugs, not the real me.” He claims he wants help but has been unable to commit to any kind of recovery program. If the plaintiffs win, they want to use their monetary award to get John into a qualified rehab program.
MY SISTER TOOK MY FAVORITE JEANS AND GAVE ME BACK HALF 18 year old Latoya is suing her 16 year old sister Latayvia for $200 because the Latoya let Latayvia borrow some of her clothing including a favorite pair of jeans, and the clothes came back a mess. In particular, the favorite jeans are now jeans shorts! Latayvia says that Latoya left her clothes laying around the house and it didn’t seem like Latoya cared about the clothes so she just helped herself.
OVERWHELMED UNCLE TRYING TO DO THE RIGHT THING 36 year old Terence is suing his teenaged nieces Kiyana and Kenya for the replacement costs of several telephones that the girls have destroyed. Terence has taken over responsibility for raising these girls (ages 13 and 14) because their mother is at best an absentee parent, although they all live together. The girls are clearly angry, fight often, and blame eachother for the damage to Uncle Terence’s property.
I’M SUING MY FOUR FREELOADING SISTERS 30 year old Laura is suing her 4 sisters – Adriana (15), Esperanza (18), Maria (22) and Brenda (26). The amounts they have taken from her are $300 for Adriana’s laser hair removal; $1,0000 for Esperanza’s cell phone bill; $300 for Maria’s car repair; and $10,000 to Brenda for a down payment on her house (Brenda bought a Lexus instead of paying her back). Laura says their parents were hard-working immigrants who had to be out of the house a lot, so Laura became the caretaker of the her younger sisters. Consequently, they came to see her as the cash register where they went any time they needed money. Laura actually moved out of state to get away from them and this financial burden, but they follow her, literally showing up on her doorstep and asking for money. To make matters worse, they won’t do her the simplest of favors like forwarding her mail from her old house where they still live.
