Tuesday, 10 July 2012
Tom Cruise-Katie Holmes: Disposable phone used to start divorce
Katie Holmes set the wheels in motion for her
divorce from Tom Cruise using a throwaway cellphone provided by a
friend to initially talk to her lawyers and avoid her husband knowing
about the conversations, according to a source familiar with the
divorce.
The move allowed her to prepare her legal case without Cruise and his
staff knowing she was about to exit the marriage and left him shocked
at the sudden divorce. By the time a deal was struck last weekend to end
the marriage, she hired three law firms in three states.
Holmes will now have primary custody of her 6-year-old daughter, Suri, with Cruise in a quick, behind-closed-doors divorce settlement. But the "Mission: Impossible" star will still have a "meaningful relationship" with his child.
The agreement provides Cruise with visitation rights but gives Holmes
the lead role in choosing how Suri will be educated, a source said
Monday.
With a prenuptial agreement governing the distribution of assets,
talks between lawyers for Cruise, a prominent member of the Church of
Scientology, and Holmes, who was raised Roman Catholic, centered on the
role of Scientology in the upbringing of Suri, according to a source
familiar with the negotiations but not authorized to discuss them
publicly.
Holmes wanted guarantees in the settlement to ensure nothing is done
while their daughter is with Cruise that would "alienate" Suri from her,
the sources said.
Cruise and Holmes appeared to refer to the religious component of
their split in a joint statement: "We want to keep matters affecting our
family private and express our respect for each other's commitment to
each of our respective beliefs and support each other's roles as
parents," they said.
But experts in so-called spiritual custody disputes said although
family law judges try to ensure the interests of children are protected
in matters, such as medical care and housing, they give both parents
broad leeway in choosing a religious upbringing.
"The general rule is the courts will defer unless the consequences
are really detrimental to the health of the child — a threat of
immediate and substantial harm," said Jeffrey Shulman, a professor of
law at Georgetown University who has written extensively about the issue and believes the standard doesn't protect children sufficiently.
In the case of Cruise and Scientology, a judge could intervene if the
religion was used to turn Suri away from Holmes because she was not an
adherent, Shulman said.
"The courts could say to Cruise, 'You cannot conduct yourself in a
way that alienates the child from Katie Holmes,' " he said. "But mere
doctrine may not be enough for the court to do that."
Courts won't rule on the merits of a particular religion, New York lawyer Malcolm Taub said.
Courts won't rule on the merits of a particular religion, New York lawyer Malcolm Taub said.
"They would not say that Scientology is not a valid religion, so
we're going to award [sole spiritual custody] to Katie Holmes," Taub
said.
The confidential deal was hammered out over the weekend in New York
and announced Monday, 11 days after Holmes took the entertainment
industry and reportedly her husband by surprise with the filing of
divorce papers in Manhattan.
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