It's recently been reported that Charlie Sheen has surrendered legal custody of the two kids he had with Denise Richards. Apparently Charlie and Denise signed a written agreement in which Denise now has full legal custody of 6-year-old Sam and 4-year-old Lola. Up to now Charlie and Denise had joint legal custody.
There are reports that Denise wanted full legal custody given Charlie's current marital turmoil with Brooke Mueller - it looks like they are getting ready to divorce. Plus Charlie has a history of sobriety issues and criminal problems and it appears that Charlie didn't put up a fight and was willing to give up his joint legal custody. This is legal custody not physical custody, Denise was awarded primary physical custody as part of their divorce. It's assumed that Charlie will still have visitation rights, even though he'll no longer have joint legal custody.
It's believed that the agreement was signed two weeks ago but the parties didn't want to file it with the court just yet. Denise having full legal custody means that she can make medical, schooling and other important decisions without getting Charlie's sign-off. She can also leave the country with the kids without Charlie's permission.
Under their divorce agreement, Denise has primary physical custody and Charlie has visitation rights. Charlie has been paying Denise $50,000 a month in child support since their divorce and that amount has remained static.
If Charlie ends up divorcing his current wife Brooke Mueller he could be up for more support payments. According to their pre-nup, she'll get $55,000 a month in child support plus add-ons, like medical and schooling expenses and that could drive the monthly support upwards of $125,000. Mueller won't get a cut of his Two-and-a-Half Men earnings, Denise Richards already has dibs on that.