Just a few more months and the Kim Kardashian/Kris Humphries marriage will be put to rest, if the judge in the case has anything to say about it. The parties will be back in court on May 6 for what most expect to be a three- to five-day trial.
The couple famously split just 72 days into their marriage. Since October 2011, the reality show star and the professional basketball player have been in and out of court.
Humphries continues to ask that the marriage be annulled — in Illinois, the term is invalidated. He believes Kardashian committed fraud by marrying him essentially to boost her show’s ratings and her own celebrity. Kardashian denies the claim and continues to insist that divorce and divorce alone is appropriate.
As we have discussed in past posts, there are a number of differences between getting a divorce and having a marriage invalidated. In the former, for example, the parties must agree on the division of marital property. In the latter, there is no marital property, because the marriage never happened. The parties are taken back to the moment just before they said “I do.”
In the Kardashian/Humphries case, a notable difference is also that any ante-nuptial agreement the couple entered into would not be in force if the marriage is annulled. That could mean that Humphries would have a claim to more of Kardashian’s fortune.
For her part, Kardashian has moved on. She is expecting a child by rap singer Kanye West in July.
Humphries has returned to the basketball court, though he was not successful in having the trial postponed until after the season ended. Neither has his attorney been successful in obtaining an estimated 13,000 hours of footage from Kardashian’s television show that he says will prove the fraud claim.
Source: Chicago Sun Times, “Judge sets May trial date for Kim Kardashian, Humphries divorce,” Anthony McCartney, Feb. 18, 2013
Our firm works with clients on divorce settlements like the one discussed above. If you would like to learn more about our practice, please visit the Libertyville, Illinois, divorce and family law page of our website.
