Since Anna Nicole Smith’s death, a firestorm has broken out over her seemingly drug-related death, and custody of her child. Where there is money, there are lawyers, and many allegations of criminal activity have been made. In the latest round, the social services department has ordered a background check on Anna’s mother as well as two former boyfriends, all of them laying claim to the wealthy baby.
Anna Nicole Smith spent much of her life in court, and it seems the pattern is likely to continue for her child. Smith was known to associate with some interesting characters, so the odds are that the background checks will turn up a few tidbits. There have also been questions raised about the doctors who provided the drugs. It is fair to say that most would not have expected a background check on the judge to turn up anything — but Judge Korda became part of the drama, caught smoking dope in a park.
Celebrity antics aside, using a background check as part of a custody battle is nothing new. It is very common for a soon-to-be-ex-spouse to run one in an attempt to discredit their partner’s parenting ability. If there are no pre-existing criminal records, there may be attempts to make new ones through fresh allegations. The most powerful, if it can be made to stick, is a charge of sexual abuse — that will affect custody most directly. Anyone going through a custody dispute should run a background check on themselves before showing up in court, if only to make sure that there are no surprises. While mixups are rare, all government data sources will have some errors, and it’s better to find out well in advance if they will have an impact.