Celebrity Divorces: Tom and Katie (TomKat)

Celebrity divorces can appear to be done within a blink of an eye. For instance, the divorce of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes seemed to resolve itself within just a few weeks. We didn’t notice their assets being tied up in an endless courtroom battle. So the question is, how was the TomKat divorce so easy?

Tom and Katie signed a private agreement which addressed alimony, child custody and support, and their mutual property. Both wanted their privacy and chose to do this confidential agreement in order to keep everything out of the courtroom and the public eye. In addition, Tom and Katie signed a prenuptial agreement, which no doubt helped speed up their divorce process. There is no word in the news on who got what but it seems that they were both happy with the outcome of their private agreement. Ultimately, when you have two people who are willing to get things done, a divorce can be accomplished fairly quickly.

It seems that Katie had been thinking about a divorce for several years prior to actually filing for one. Although Tom and Katie lived together in California, Katie made the strategic move to New York prior to filing for divorce in order to gain primary custody of her daughter Suri. Apparently joint custody is favored in California, while it is less of a trend in New York. Thus, Katie’s move to New York gave her a better chance at receiving primary custody of her daughter, which she did indeed receive. In terms of alimony, both Tom and Katie earn substantial amounts, and thus, it is likely that neither one of them receives alimony.

In short, the reason a celebrity divorce such as the TomKat divorce can be speedy is that both celebrities are ready to move on with their lives and have agreed to certain things (such as equitable distribution, custody, etc.) in order to make their divorce go faster. Thus, when two people can work together and come to an agreement, a divorce can be handled more quickly than you might think possible.