Rex Butler: Levi Johnston will pay Bristol Palin the outstanding child support "within a week" - UPDATE!

ABC reported just a few minutes ago:

"In a 20-minute hearing Thursday, a judge ordered Levi Johnston to pay child support and retroactive back payments for the care of Tripp, the son he had with Bristol Palin, daughter of former vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

On Nov. 3, 2009, Bristol Palin filed a legal petition seeking sole custody of Tripp and child support from Johnston in accordance with Alaska law. She asked for primary custody with visitation rights for Johnston, as well as $1,700 of child support a month.

Rex Butler, attorney for Johnston, told ABC News that his client is eager to make the back payments and will hand over a check within the week.

"The judge decided that Bristol should have child support, which we don't disagree with," Butler told the ABC News Law and Justice Unit. "Fortunately, Levi has put this money aside a long time ago. The back support is going to come out to about $10,000 to $13,000, and he's going to write Bristol a check."

Butler confirmed that Johnston's saved funds came in part from modeling, particularly a much-publicized spread in Playgirl, but said the most important matter going forward was "whether to seek full custody, split custody or whether Levi will be satisfied with reasonable visitation."

"I think split custody is the best of these," Butler said."

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Well, let's hope that the Johnston's get to see Tripp on a regular basis now!

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UPDATE:

The celebrity and media website "monstersandcritics" have an interesting report with new details regarding the custody case, including an interesting new picture of Bristol - check it out! They general opinion in the media now seems to be that Bristol Palin "won the custody case". How on earth could that happen? Didn't Levi originally have the advantage, being faced with an outrageous claim by Bristol in many respects?

They write:

The daughter of Sarah Palin, Bristol, has been awarded interim child support in a court battle with the father of her one-year-old son.

A judge in Alaska ordered Levi Johnston to pay Bristol nearly $18,000 in overdue child support payments, according to reports.

Johnston, a Playgirl cover model, previously claimed his income was too erratic to meet Bristol's original demand of $1,750 per month.

But the 19-year-old teen mum, who is guest-starring in an episode of The Secret Life Of The American Teenager was pleased with the ruling.

Her lawyer, Thomas Van Flein, said: 'Bristol was in court today and she was pleased with the way things went. Levi was not present in court.'

Palin won interim child support for her son, Tripp, and the right to subpoena Johnston's commercial earnings, according to reports.

Van Flein said: 'She still has both physical and legal custody of their son, although she has been working with Levi so that he can see him on Saturdays. The pair are communicating via text and e-mail and are deciding to put their son first – we are actively working with Levi’s lawyer to get a more regular schedule set-up and we hope to have everything in place before the next court date on 23 September.

“The payments amount to around $18,000 and date back to when their son was born, and Levi will be paying around $1,600 a month in ongoing child support payments.'

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