Hunter Biden has his name in the headlines once again, as his ex has officially reopened a 2019 paternity suit in Arkansas, alleging that the former first son has not kept up his end of the deal concerning child support and saying he’s “ghosted” the pair’s daughter, Navy Joan Roberts. Attorneys representing Lunden Roberts stated in a new motion filed in January 2026 that along with getting his child support payments reduced, Biden agreed to give his daughter a “specified number of paintings he had created and that she had selected.”
Lunden stated that the agreement was made due to the potential monetary value of the paintings because of the former first son’s fame. She also believed that the paintings would be a way for Biden and Navy to bond with each other since they both share a love for art. The paternity suit also notes that Roberts had given Biden artwork created by Navy specifically for her father after he showed up unannounced at a past deposition. The gesture moved Biden to tears and was the foundation of his idea to bond with the girl over a shared love of art.
It goes on to reveal that the arrangement gave Roberts’ family “joy” because Navy had “desperately longed for, talked about, and dreamed of a relationship with her father.” The young girl allegedly said that she “could not wait to get to heaven so she could ‘be with her dad’ because her dad does not see or talk to her because her dad ‘lives far away and is really busy.'”
The suit also goes on to state that Biden and his daughter began to solidify a bond with one another, but he then “ghosted” the little girl after Roberts put out a memoir in 2024 about her relationship with him, despite the fact she didn’t disparage him in the book. Roberts now believes that his motive for connecting with his daughter and creating the previously mentioned arrangement to get his child support payments reduced, according to Fox News.
While the little girl got upset while attending a wedding, realizing that “her dad would not walk her down the aisle or dance with her at her own wedding reception,” the motion also stated that Navy is “grateful” for how much her father loves her half-brother, Beau Biden, Jr. He also has three older kids with his first wife. The young girl even “defended the reputation of her grandfather, former President Joe Biden, against bullies,” the motion added.
“Ms. Roberts has reached out to Mr. Biden numerous times about [their daughter] asking to speak with him, but the defendant, in classic, classless form, refuses to respond,” the documents stated. While Hunter Biden has provided a few paintings, the motion says that his daughter hasn’t been able to personally choose any herself, which was part of the child support agreement.
The motion then urged the court to apply pressure and force the former first son to “communicate with his child” and to jail him “as a civil penalty until he purges his contempt by complying with this court’s orders.” Roberts’ attorneys pointed out that Biden’s four other kids live a lifestyle “above that of the average American.”
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“It is axiomatic that no one can force Mr. Biden into being a good dad for [his daughter], but this court can make it so that [his daughter] has, at least, the same level of support as [her] younger half-brother,” the motion added. Initially, Biden denied that Navy was his daughter until a court ordered him to take a paternity test in 2019. In 2025, Biden was convicted of a felony gun charge for illegally owning a firearm while using drugs, but was issued a pardon by his father, who was still serving as president at the time.
Featured image credit: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hunter_Biden_and_Abbe_Lowell_in_2023.jpg