Settlement highlights Cruise-Holmes privacy wishes

Only time will tell if the quick divorce settlement reached between Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise lasts longer than their five-year marriage.

It will need to, since the agreement will guide how the actors raise their 6-year-old daughter Suri for years to come. Yet major disputes could put the pair back in lawyers’ offices and force them to enter a place they have successfully avoided so far — a courtroom.
The surprise announcement Monday that Holmes and Cruise had settled their divorce in less than two weeks ended what many expected to be a contentious breakup spanning both coasts.
Details of the agreement remain confidential and the pair released a joint statement indicating they intend to keep it that way.
“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,” their statement said.
Had the divorce taken longer to resolve, many expected Cruise to try to move the case from New York to California, where he has ended his marriages to actresses Mimi Rogers and Nicole Kidman. Neither of those cases lasted very long, with Cruise finalizing his divorce from Rogers within 45 days; his divorce from Kidman took less than six months.
If Holmes and Cruise have a significant dispute about Suri’s care or custody, a family law judge may have to resolve the dispute. Their divorce settlement could dictate that the dispute be heard in Los Angeles or it could remain in New York, said Steve Mindel, a divorce lawyer and partner in the Los Angeles firm Feinberg, Mindel, Brandt and Klein who has handled bi-coastal divorce cases.
“No doubt the settlement terms took into consideration where disputes are going to be settled,” said Michael Kelly, a Santa Monica, Calif.-based divorce attorney who has handled numerous high-profile divorces and custody disputes.
He said, however, that settlements increasingly call for parties to go to mediation or appear before a private judge.
The actors employed attorneys on both coasts, with Cruise relying on California lawyers and Holmes opting for New York- and New Jersey-based attorneys.

Source:http://www.timesherald.com/article/20120710/ENTERTAINMENT03/120719982/settlement-highlights-cruise-holmes-privacy-wishes