Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes Divorce

The Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes divorce has been all over the news since Holmes filed, but it definitely bears coverage here at CelebLegalIssues.com—there are few juicier stories out there right now!

Cruise was apparently blindsided by the divorce papers, which is evident in the official statements released by each camp. Holmes’ legal representation said “This is a personal and private matter for Katie and her family. Katie’s primary concern remains, as it always has been, her daughter’s best interest.” whereas Cruise’s people released a statement saying “Kate has filed for divorce and Tom is deeply saddened and is concentrating on his three children. Please allow them their privacy to work this out.”

The scoop

Holmes filed for divorce in New York City on June 28, a move that affords her more privacy. Why? Court paperwork is sealed in New York, which means the public does not have access to the paperwork through the same channels available in California and other states.

Despite the privacy filing for divorce in New York is meant to create, quite a bit of information has been leaked to the press. Here’s what is generally known: Holmes’ petition did not include their names and used the oft-cited “irreconcilable differences” reason as the cause for their split. She requested sole legal custody and primary physical custody of Suri, the couple’s 6-year-old daughter. (More on what is likely to be a child custody battle in another article.) She’s also asked for child support and a portion of the couple’s property.

Right now Holmes has hired two lawyers to help her through divorce proceedings. One attorney is Jonathan Wolfe, a Livingston, New Jersey lawyer, and the other is New York attorney Allan E. Mayefsky. People also reports that Holmes’ father, himself a lawyer, played an instrumental role in her decision to divorce Cruise.

News on the Cruise legal front is comparatively quiet. It was announced yesterday that Cruise hired Los Angeles attorney Dennis Wasser to represent him. Wasser was Nicole Kidman’s attorney when Cruise and Kidman split. Cruise will also have a New York lawyer, but one has not yet been named.

This is Cruise’s third divorce and Holmes’ first. Though the two were married for five years and seemed happy much of the time, they were continually followed by the media and rumors of marital woes. Those rumors have been reignited since Friday (Did the couple have a marriage contract? What does their prenup say?), with a few new ones added to the mix. Right now the buzz is that Scientology was a huge part of Holmes’ decision to divorce Cruise, and that Holmes fears the Church of Scientology has been having her followed. An attorney for the Church denied putting a tail on Katie in a statement to TMZ.

More to come as this story develops!