Nearly six months after Kelly Clarkson filed for divorce from Brandon Blackstock, legal decisions are being made regarding their roles as parents.
On Nov. 19, the Grammy-winning singer was awarded primary physical custody in Los Angeles of her and Blackstock's two children together, daughter River Rose, 6, and son Remington Alexander, 4. According to court documents filed on Nov. 30 and obtained by E! News, "under the circumstances present in this case, the interest in providing stability and continuity for the minor children weighs in favor of Petitioner having primary custody" and that the children "have not resided in Montana and that their current resident and their residence for the last several years has been Los Angeles, California."
As a result, the exes were granted joint legal custody and physical custody, but primary physical custody was given to Clarkson. "This custody order isn't that big of a deal," a source told E! News. "It actually made the most sense for both sides because the kids are in school in Los Angeles and this order was designed to not disrupt the kids routine and to keep them in school. This works for Brandon and Kelly and everyone is fine with it for the sake of the kids. Brandon will be back to L.A. to see the kids."
A second source claimed that prior to the judge's decision, Brandon and Kelly were "fighting" because he "originally wanted the kids to fly back and forth" from L.A. and Montana, "which was never going to work."
And even though Kelly was awarded primary custody, she allowed Brandon to have "extra time" with the kids over the Thanksgiving break, according to the second source, as they are "young" and and "she feels kind of bad."
Overall, the second source said that Kelly is "actually doing great," adding, "She's really happy that things with the kids can go back to normal in L.A. now."
E! News has reached out to Clarkson's rep and Blackstock's attorney for comment.
Blackstock, who was married to the performer for nearly seven years, was granted parenting time with the kids on specific terms outlined in the documents, including for FaceTime calls, holidays and school breaks. The order also included rules both parents must abide by, such as "The parties shall not speak in a derogatory manner about the other parent to the minor children."
The documents noted, "All Orders herein are pendent lite (temporary) Orders and shall be in effect until further Order of the Court or any written Stipulation, as agreed to by the parties, is submitted to the Court."
The order also shed light on where the exes currently stand with each other. In her June divorce petition, Clarkson cited "irreconcilable differences" as the reason for their split. Per the documents filed in November, "The Court finds that as this case has proceeded, the level of conflict between the parents has increased. The parties have a difficult time co-parenting due to issues of trust between them."
While Clarkson has publicly expressed wanting to keep their personal life private, the daytime talk show host has briefly addressed the divorce on a few occasions, including during the season two premiere of The Kelly Clarkson Show in September.
"What I'm dealing with is hard because it involves more than just my heart. It involves a lot of little hearts. We have four kids," The Voice judge told viewers, referencing Blackstock's two children with ex Melissa Ashworth. "Divorce is never easy. And we're both from divorced families, so we know the best thing here is to protect our children and their little hearts...I will talk a little bit here and there about how it affects me personally, but probably won't go too far into it because, you know, I'm a mama bear and my kids come first."
However, she did also assure her virtual audience, "I am ok."