Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban are divorced and legally single, ending the 19-year marriage of one of entertainment’s most prominent power couples
A Nashville, Tennessee, judge issued an order at a hearing Tuesday dissolving the marriage of the Oscar-winning actor and the Grammy-winning country singer.
Judge Stephanie J. Williams said in a court filing that the couple’s settlements on splitting assets and child custody are sufficient, and granted them the divorce.
Williams wrote that "there exist such irreconcilable difference between the parties that would render continuation of the marriage impractical and impossible.”
Both Kidman and Urban waived their right to appear at the hearing.
Messages to their representatives seeking comment were not immediately answered.
Kidman filed for divorce in September. The superstar split was a surprise to most of the public, but it had clearly been in the works for a while. All the legal issues involving assets and custody had been settled and signed the day of her filing.
Tennessee requires a 90-day waiting period for couples with minor children before a divorce can take effect.
Kidman and Urban, both 58, have two teenage daughters together. Their divorce filing said they had "marital difficulties and irreconcilable differences.”
The plan they signed states that Kidman would be the primary residential parent to the children. It suggested they would remain living in Nashville as they have all their lives. The filing states that neither parent would need child or spousal support, and lays out a roughly equal division of their joint assets.
Two of the biggest stars to come out of Australia in recent decades, Kidman and Urban met in Los Angeles in 2005 and were married in Sydney the following year.
They were red carpet fixtures throughout their two-decade relationship, with Urban joining his wife at the Oscars and Kidman attending music events like the Academy of Country Music Awards.
The couple had publicly but lovingly described some marital difficulties, yet there were still few outward signs the divorce was coming.
The marriage was the first for Urban and the second for Kidman, who was married to Tom Cruise from 1990 to 2001. Kidman also has two older children with Cruise. – AP
