Aaron Carter's fiancée, Melanie Martin, has regained custody of her 1-year-old son, Prince, whom she shared with the late singer.
The ruling was made after a Thursday court hearing in Los Angeles. Martin, 30, was in New York at the time of the decision, and then headed to California to retrieve her son.
She was "extremely happy and eager" to see him, a representative confirmed to TMZ.
Prince was placed under the care of Martin's mother, Jane Carter, in September, when the couple lost custody of their son reportedly due to concerns about drug use and domestic violence.
"I’m honoring Aaron today and I know he would be so proud of me," Martin told TMZ. "I’m very emotional thinking we could have been a family, but Aaron would be so happy knowing I got him back."
Carter's mother said she was pleased with the court ruling to give Martin back custody of Prince.
"The child should be with the mother," she said.
Aaron Carter died in his home in Lancaster, California, on Nov. 5 at age 34. He had no will in place at the time of his death and in this instance, according to California law, the musician's wealth, which is estimated to be about $550 thousand dollars in real estate and personal property, will go to his next of kin.
Therefore, because Aaron was not married to Martin, the inheritance will go to Prince, TMZ reported. Aaron's twin sister, Angel, has applied to be the administrator.
Jane said Aaron would have wanted everything to go to his son, and said she fully supported this, adding that the family did not need part of his estate.
Aaron and Martin are known for their on-again, off-again relationship. Last year, mere days after Prince was born, the pair split up. Aaron revealed the news on social media while lashing out at Martin in a series of candid tweets in which he accused her of working with his estranged family behind his back to leave him.
"Due to personal reason Melanie Martin and I have decided to go our separate ways," he wrote in one tweet, stating that "there has been a very big lie" involving his sister communicating with Martin.
"I have the most conniving deceiving family and Melanie has been lying to me the whole time communicating with my twin sister and the family members who tried to put me in prison and who tried to get a conservatorship on me in court. I’m in shocked this is horrible," Aaron wrote in another tweet.
"I’ve never felt more devastated and betrayed and lied to in my entire life this is such a horrible situation considering prince doesn’t deserve any of this and now it’s my job to just be a single father and that’s what’s gonna happen," he continued in a separate tweet, adding in another tweet that Martin had said she was now moving to Las Vegas with their son.
"Seems she’s had a back up plan this whole time oh and said I’ll never see my son again," Aaron wrote.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.