WASHINGTON — The mother of President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden’s “estranged” granddaughter wants her child’s last name to be changed to “Biden,” court documents show.
Previously, DNA testing proved “with near scientific certainty” that the president’s son, Hunter Biden, is the biological father of an Arkansas woman’s 4-year-old daughter, an Arkansas judge wrote in a state court filing in January 2020.
This came after the girl’s mother, Lunden Roberts, sued Hunter Biden in May 2019 to establish the paternity of her daughter and to order him to pay child support, according to court records filed in the Circuit Court of Independence County, Arkansas. The civil case was reopened in September.
While Roberts, of Arkansas, wants the Biden family to “remain estranged” from her daughter, she filed a motion in court requesting her child to bear the Biden name on Dec. 27.
“The Biden name is now synonymous with being well educated, successful, financially acute, and politically powerful,” the motion states in part.
Roberts argues that her daughter would “benefit” by changing her last name to Biden and that it “would greatly impact and preserve her legacy.”
Additionally, she said a name change would allow her daughter to “undeniably be known to the world as the child of (Hunter Biden) and member of the prestigious Biden family,” according to the motion.
McClatchy News contacted attorneys representing Hunter Biden and Roberts for comment on Jan. 5 and didn’t immediately receive a response.
Roberts’ and Hunter Biden’s daughter was born on Aug. 28, 2018, according to the judge’s order establishing the child’s paternity.
Before suing Hunter Biden in May 2019, Roberts used to work for him, according to The New York Times.
Roberts became his employee when she previously lived in Washington, D.C., according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette citing her attorney Clinton Lancaster.
Hunter Biden initially refuted the allegations made in Roberts’ lawsuit, which came shortly after he married his current wife, Melissa Cohen, The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported. Later, he wrote in his book “Beautiful Things” published in 2021 that he did not recall getting Roberts pregnant.
When Roberts stopped getting paid by Hunter Biden’s company and no longer received health insurance, she initiated the lawsuit, The New York Times reported.
In March 2020, Roberts’ paternity lawsuit against Hunter Biden was settled when he was ordered to pay her monthly child support based on his income, according to a judge’s order. He was also ordered to reimburse her for health insurance costs after it was established that he is the father of Roberts’ child.
This closed the case — until Hunter Biden’s attorney filed a motion in September requesting to reset the previously determined child support payments, documents show.
“Since the entry of the existing child support order there has been a substantial material change in (Hunter Biden’s) financial circumstances, including but not limited to his income ... ” the motion states.
A hearing on this matter, originally set for Jan. 4, was rescheduled for Feb. 22, according to another document filed on Jan. 3.
Meanwhile, Roberts’ motion for a name change is unresolved as of Jan. 5.
In the motion, she asked the court to ensure that her daughter “will not experience any difficulty, harassment, or embarrassment by carrying the last name of Biden” if the change is granted.
“Instead, it will open opportunities for her just like it has for other members of the Biden family,” the motion added.
Hunter Biden is one of President Biden’s children with his first wife, Neilia, according to his White House biography.
After President Biden was elected to the U.S. Senate at 29 years old, Neilia and his daughter Naomi were killed in a car accident, his biography states. His sons that he shared with Neilia, Hunter and Beau Biden, were badly injured but survived. In 2015, Beau Biden died from brain cancer.
Hunter Biden’s other children include three daughters shared with his ex-wife Kathleen Buhle — Naomi, 29, Finnegan, 22, and Maisy, 21 — and he and his wife’s son Beau Jr., 2, according to People Magazine.
