Mama June wins small victory in bitter custody battle with Anna 'Chickadee' Cardwell's ex over her granddaughter Kaitlyn, 11

Mama June celebrated a small victory in her court battle with Michael Cardwell, the ex-husband of her late daughter Anna 'Chickadee' Cardwell. 

A judge granted Mama June’s request for records from the Department of Family and Children Services as she seeks custody of Anna's 11-year-old daughter Kaitlyn, according to court documents obtained by InTouch on Tuesday. 

'Such evidence and testimony is material to the matters before the court to allow the court to make an informed decision regarding the best interest of the minor child in this custody action,' the motion read, per the outlet. 

Anna died in December 2023 at the age of 29 after being diagnosed with adrenal cancer, leaving behind daughters Kaitlyn and Kylee, eight. 

After Mama June was granted temporary custody of Kaitlyn following Anna's death, Michael— who had Kylee with Anna before their 2017 split — filed a separate case seeking custody of Kaitlyn. 

Mama June celebrated a small victory in her court battle with Michael Cardwell , the ex-husband of her late daughter Anna 'Chickadee' Cardwell 

A judge granted Mama June’s request for records from the Department of Family and Children Services as she seeks custody of Anna's 11-year-old daughter Kaitlyn, according to court documents obtained by InTouch on Tuesday, (Anna pictured with her daughters Kylee, 11, Kaitlyn, eight and husband Eldridge Toney)

Anna had welcomed Kaitlyn with a different former partner from a previous relationship. 

In early July, Kaitlyn submitted a declaration in the custody battle, per InTouch. 

She reportedly told the court, 'I am electing and hereby expressing my desire and intent to reside primarily with my maternal grandmother, June Shannon. I do not wish to have set visitation with Michael Cardwell.'

The matriarch previously addressed the custody of Kaitlyn in an episode of Mama June: Family Crisis that aired in June, filmed prior to Anna's death. 

At the time, Anna expressed her wish for her husband, Eldridge Toney, whom she married in 2023, to take care of Kaitlyn. 

'I am surprised that she wants Eldridge on the paperwork,' Mama June said in a confessional on the show.

'Kaitlyn will be better off with me, because there is stability. Eldridge has been in Kaitlyn's life since she was around five years old. Honestly, she needs to put this s*** on paper.'

The episode aired after Mama June revealed that her family deliberately kept Anna's diagnosis hidden for months, because the late TV star didn't feel ready to go public with the news.

'Such evidence and testimony is material to the matters before the court to allow the court to make an informed decision regarding the best interest of the minor child in this custody action,' the motion read, per the outlet 

After Mama June was granted temporary custody of Kaitlyn following Anna's death, Michael— who had Kylee with Anna before their 2017 split — filed a separate case seeking custody of Kaitlyn

 The news of her diagnosis was made public back in March 2023, but Mama June confirmed that the family had chosen to delay telling the world when they first found out.

'We held the stage four diagnosis out of the public until Anna was ready to tell the world,' she told DailyMail.com exclusively. 'We kept that underneath our belt for probably three months.'

The decision was best for the family at the time, but her daughters Honey Boo Boo, Pumpkin and Jessica admitted they were left hurt and offended by people who went on to accuse the family of using Chickadee's death as a plot for their reality show.

Addressing the comments, Mama June said: 'What was so crazy for us is when Anna passed away in December. I remember this vividly, for a long time people really thought that we was actually putting out false news.

The mom-of-two battled adrenal cancer that progressed to stage 4 before she died on December 9, aged 29 

Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com, Mama June explained: 'We held the stage four diagnosis out of the public until Anna was ready to tell the world'

'I was like, this is definitely not something to joke about. She passed away on our daughter's birthday, 45 minutes before the clock turned 12.'

The star fumed: 'That is not something that we would even play with. A lot of you really think that it was all like put on for the cameras. Cancer is nothing to play about. Death is nothing to play about.'

Reflecting on how they have been coping as a family in the wake of Chickadee's death, she continued: 'For me, it's been a personal day-to-day thing. It's only been six months. 

'I feel like I need to wake up from this nightmare. It's still a dream, if that makes sense.'