Britney Spears' marriage is over, but the paperwork lingers.
The Nevada marriage license that legally, if briefly, bound the pop tart to hometown friend Jason Allen Alexander was officially entered into the books on Jan. 16, according to the Clark County Recorder's Office in Las Vegas.
While the timing seems off and the bottom line confusing (Does this mean Spears and Alexander are married--again?), officials say no oops has been committed.
"That's how it works," Spears' Vegas attorney David Chesnoff said Thursday.
"That" is the registering of marriage license. In Nevada, wedding officiators--in Spears' case, the Strip's Little White Wedding Chapel--have 10 days to record a license with the county.
Jan. 16 was 10 working days after Spears and Alexander's nervy walk down the aisle. The fact that the fun couple was granted an annulment just 55 hours after the Jan. 3 ceremony didn't change the filing requirements.
And the fact that the fun couple's license was recorded after the split doesn't mean Spears and Alexander are once again Mr. and Mrs. Britney.
Chesnoff said, "They're not married."
The ex-bride, meanwhile, talked publicly about her union for the first time Wednesday. True to form of the blink-and-you-missed-it marriage, her comments were, well, brief.
"I do believe in the sanctity of marriage. I totally do," Spears said in a phone interview on MTV's TRL. "But I think I was in Vegas, and it took over me."
Spears deflected further inquiries about her relationship with Alexander, a 22-year-old Louisiana college student. "You know, that's a personal question," she told MTV. "But I do have a video ["Toxic"] coming out, and it's really cool."
Spears also is looking to move past the PR wreckage of her mini marriage with a new movie deal. Thursday's Daily Variety says the Crossroads player will star in and produce an adaptation of Door to Door, a so-called "fictionalized memoir" about a small-town girl who goes Hollywood.
For his part, Spears' ex-groom is keeping a tight lip as rumors swirl he received more than a handshake for agreeing to annul his marriage (and forgo a potentially hefty community property claim). Tab reports out of London have Alexander banking at least a $500,000 payout, plus a Porsche, from the ex-missus.
A message left with Alexander's rep--yes, he has people now--was not returned Thursday.