Paul Walker’s Mom Seeks Guardianship Of His Daughter

After Paul Walker’s tragic death on November 30th of 2013, there have been a number of lingering issues. Walker was killed when a Porsche he was riding in at a high rate of speed spun out of control and crashed, bursting into flames and killing the Fast and the Furious star, as well as the car’s driver Rick Rodas.
While there has been an extensive investigation into the crash and a large amount of media coverage, a new focus on the aftermath has emerged, that centers around Walker’s 15-year-old daughter Meadow and the 16 million dollar estate she has inherited after the untimely death of her father.

Reason for guardianship

According to TMZ and the court papers which were filed on Tuesday, March 18th, Walker’s mother Cheryl Walker is seeking custody of the teenager due to allegations that Meadow’s mother Rebecca Soteros has a drinking problem which makes her unfit to care for the girl.
There is a lot of evidence of this drinking problem, as well as a direction in Walker’s will that his mother be guardian of his daughter in the event of his death. He and Soteros also never were married, which could be further evidence that he didn’t want her caring for their child as sole guardian.
Who’s been living where?
In the court papers, it states that Meadow had been living with her grandmother Cheryl since 2012, after living with her father for a year. However, there is some dispute on this, as another source close to Soteros who spoke to “E! News” states that Meadow and Soteros had been living together for two years between 2011 and 2013 in a house paid for by Walker in Santa Barbara.
According to the source, Meadow had only recently moved in with Cheryl Walker a few months before her father’s tragic death, in order to be closer to him geographically. Both the mother and daughter had stayed with Cheryl on and off over the past year, but never lived with her permanently. Before the house in Santa Barbara, Meadow and Soteros had lived together in Hawaii.

Drinking problem or not?

The court papers go on to point out issues of alcoholism in Soteros’s past. She has two DUI cases on her record, one in Newport in 2003 for which she pleaded guilty and another in Hawaii in 2013 which is still pending. The source close to Soteros told “E! News” that the filing came as a shock and that Soteros is “disgusted,” stating that the claims of alcoholism are blown way out of proportion.
However, it is important to note that none of the court documents talk about changing Meadow’s living situation, just that Cheryl Walker becomes the guardian of Meadow, as opposed to Soteros.

The result of the dispute

It appears that there is a rift between Soteros and Cheryl Walker, though whether that’s due to the safety and benefit of Meadow Walker or closer access to her bequeathed 16 million dollars has yet to be established.
Things like this often occur when large amounts of money are involved, however, it is never to the benefit of the child who is caught in the middle of the subsequent court proceedings. A guardianship hearing is scheduled for April 30th.