Jenelle Evans is trying to secure more time with her 12-year-old son Jace, and wants to avoid another court battle with her mom.
Since 2010, Barbara Evans, 69, has had full custody of Jace, the Teen Mom 2 alum's child with her ex Andrew Lewis and the eldest of her three kids. Jenelle's legal and personal battles were documented on the MTV show, which parted ways with her in 2019.
Ahead of a court hearing about her and her mom's custody agreement this month, the 30-year-old spoke to E! News about where things stand, saying she hoped to negotiate a new deal out of court.
"If we end up going to trial, I'm going to ask for full [custody] completely," Jenelle said. "I'm still trying to work it out civilly."
E! News has reached out to Barbara for comment in response to Jenelle's remarks.
"I get him every other weekend," Jenelle said. "If she wants to compromise, I'll switch roles and have him during the week and she can have him every other weekend instead."
In January 2021, Jenelle said in a TikTok video that Jace lives with her full time, adding that "his behavior wasn't the best at my mom's house" and that her mother was "fed up." At the time, Barbara told TMZ that she still has full custody of Jace, that her daughter has visitation rights and that the boy had recently started to spend more time at his mom's home.
Last March, Jenelle told E! News that she and Barbara were "not on speaking terms, and we only speak if we're picking up Jace or dropping him off." But Jenelle told E! News in her recent interview, "We've actually been co-parenting good," adding, "She'll call me and tell me when Jace is misbehaving and [asks], 'Can you call and talk to him?' And I do."
Jenelle talked about what life is like at her house when Jace visits. She said her husband David Eason, father of their 5-year-old daughter Ensley, teaches her son about hunting and "car stuff," adding, "He's been changing brakes, changing tires and stuff like that with David. So that's been awesome."
Barbara also gets along with David, Jenelle said, adding, "So, it's just really weird that she just acts like everything's okay and fine and everyone's civil but when you try to bring court up to her, she kind of tries to shut down the conversation."
Meanwhile, according to Jenelle, Jace has been bonding with his brother Kaiser, 7, her middle child. She said the two are "like best friends," adding, "They play Xbox all the time. They're outside riding bikes now. They like to go in the woods, at our house and the trails. And yeah, everyone gets along pretty great."
Jenelle said that if Jace lived with her, she'd have him attend the same charter school that Kaiser goes to. She said her mom told her that her eldest son has friends at the school he attends now, adding, "I don't like the school that's by your house."
Jenelle said she supports Jace having a relationship with her mom, adding, "and that's exactly why I'm trying to work it out right now."
"She tries to avoid the topic and she's just, I don't know, I don't know what it is," Jenelle said. "Maybe she's too attached. But she also needs to realize that I'm her daughter and I deserve my son."