Keeping Up With The Kardashians – Kim & Kanye’s Divorce

There is always the suspicion in a celebrity divorce that accusations of being a Gold Digger will fly and acrimony will follow. But regardless of how you feel about their respective media and music careers, you have to recognise that when it comes to divorce, this high profile couple appear to be doing everything right – up until now at least.

In previous commentary, we anticipated that the couple may have already reached an agreement in respect of arrangements for their children and how finances are to be divided. Happily, it appears that this is very much the case.

This week Kanye has filed his response to Kim’s filing of the divorce. Kanye has requested “joint physical custody” of their children. Kim had also requested the same, which means the couple are likely to work out an arrangement between themselves for the children. This is always the best approach for all concerned.

In the UK, the Court won’t get involved with arrangements for children, unless parties are unable to agree matters and an application is made to Court. If parents can agree where children shall live and how much time they will spend with each parent, that agreement will stand and there would be no need to involve a Court. Although many people still use the term “custody” and “access”, these are not terms used by the Courts in the UK. Now we have Child Arrangement Orders, which determine who children “live with” and who they “spend time with”.

Kim and Kanye have also agreed that they will each pay their own legal fees. We always advise parties to try and agree the costs in respect of divorce proceedings as soon as possible. It is not usually economic to argue over the cost of the divorce proceedings and doing so may well cost more than the actual proceedings! If parties agree to share the costs equally this may reduce acrimony, however, if one party has limited income and the other party is the wealthier party, it is reasonable to claim the costs of the divorce proceedings from the wealthier party.

Kim and Kanye have also agreed (unsurprisingly) that they do not need spousal support. Spousal support, or spousal maintenance, is an amount paid by the spouse with the higher income to the spouse with the lower income and it is only awarded when one party cannot support themselves without payments from the other. Last week, Kim gained billionaire status and appeared on Forbes’ World’s Billionaire’s list. Kanye was already on the list. This is clearly a case where neither are in need of financial support from the other (or to put it succinctly, neither is likely to be anxious when they check their balance at the cashpoint next).

Divorce can be a stressful and emotionally traumatic time for couples and their families. When handled amicably between the parties the potential for distress can be manageable. But the outcome has to be fair to all parties. The Geldards Family Team are here to help and support you try to reach an agreement with your ex-partner and can advise on all aspect of divorce and mediation matters, including divorce, financial agreements and child arrangements.