LOS ANGELES — A judge on Wednesday declared that Kim Kardashian is legally single, granting the reality star’s wish to move on from her seven-year marriage to Grammy-winning rapper Kanye West. She has also officially and legally dropped the “West” from Kim Kardashian West.
The “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” star, 42, appeared in Los Angeles Superior Court for a bifurcation hearing via video call, according to the Associated Press. West, 44, who has changed his legal name to Ye, was not present.
Superior Court Judge Steve Cochran sent lawyers for the former couple into the hall outside a downtown Los Angeles courtroom to finalize paperwork, including a name change form for Ye, AP reported, then said he would declare Kardashian single.
While Ye has publicly objected to Kardashian’s requests in court and squabbled online with her about their family for weeks, there were reportedly no objections Wednesday in court to Kardashian’s request to change her marital status, according to TMZ. He is said to be officially single too, though the couple will still need to sort out property and custody issues involved in their split.
Cochran also granted Ye’s request to preserve any right to be reimbursed money that’s supposed to be divided between them in case either of them dies, TMZ said.
However, the judge reportedly rejected two conditions requested by Ye’s team: one preventing Kardashian from transferring any assets she had in a trust, and another asking her to waive “marital privilege” if she remarries (meaning that her new spouse could be asked to testify about communications with her, particularly those involving her and Ye’s kids).
The Skims shapewear founder and “Jeen-Yuhs” star have been battling it out since Kardashian filed for divorce in February of last year. Even as Ye has lashed out at Kardashian over parenting issues and dated multiple people, including actor Julia Fox, he has repeatedly made public pleas that their family will be restored.
Kardashian, who has been dating “Saturday Night Live” star Pete Davidson, recently told the court that she “very much desire[s] to be divorced” and that her estranged husband’s social media posts about their split have caused “emotional distress.”
According to TMZ, this week Ye hired attorney Samantha Spector, who represented Nicole Young in her divorce from rap mogul Dr. Dre. (Dre was represented by Kardashian’s lawyer, Laura Wasser, the so-called “disso queen” — as in “dissolution of marriage”). Ye reportedly fired four attorneys before that.
Kardashian and Ye started dating in 2012 while Kardashian was still divorcing her second husband, Kris Humphries. She announced she was pregnant with West’s baby that December.
The split from Humphries took so long to resolve — the 72-day marriage was followed by a 19-month divorce — that Kardashian’s baby shower came a day before her breakup was finalized in June 2013. Daughter North was born shortly afterward.
That October, on Kardashian’s 33rd birthday, West proposed in grand style, offering her a 15-carat diamond ring while a 50-piece orchestra played in the baseball stadium he had rented.
Their lavish Italian wedding came a few months later in May 2014. They later welcomed three more children: Saint, Chicago and Psalm.
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(L.A. Times staff writer Christie D’Zurilla contributed to this report.)
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