UPDATE: Kelly Clarkson is making moves to break away from Brandon Blackstock.
Court documents obtained by E! News on Sept. 24 confirm that a judge signed an order to declare the former couple legally single. The docs also note that their "marital or domestic partnership status" will officially come to an end on Jan. 7, 2022.
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Piece by piece, Kelly Clarkson is continuing to move on from Brandon Blackstock.
The American Idol alum, who filed for divorce from her estranged husband in June 2020, has officially asked to have her maiden name, Clarkson, restored. In an Aug. 5 petition, obtained by E! News, not only did the superstar singer request the name change, but she also asked the judge to terminate her marital status and declare her divorced while they work to settle other aspects of their split.
"This declaration is only for the termination of marital or domestic partner status," it reads. "I ask the court to reserve jurisdiction over aII other issues not requested in this declaration for Iater determination."
In her initial divorce filing, Clarkson, who was married to Blackstock for nearly seven years, cited irreconcilable differences for the reason for their breakup. Earlier this month, she was ordered to pay Blackstock $150,000 per month in temporary spousal support and $45,601 per month in child support, according to documents obtained by E! News.
In November, a judge ruled the exes will share joint legal and physical custody of their children River, 7, and Remy, 5, with Clarkson having primary physical custody of the kids in Los Angeles and Blackstock having visitations during certain weekends, holidays and school breaks, according to documents obtained by E! News. At the time, the documents stated these orders were temporary as the duo navigate their divorce.
"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 LA to see the kids."
While their divorce has continued to make headlines, Clarkson has remained tight-lipped about the split. "I am a very open person," she explained to The Los Angeles Times last year, "but I'm not going to be able to be truly open about this in certain aspects because there's kids involved."
Although, Clarkson did speak briefly on the matter during a September episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show. "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," she said, also referencing Blackstock's two children from a previous marriage. "And 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."
This article was originally published on Aug. 12, 2021.