Kim Kardashian and Kanye West declared single amid ongoing divorce
Kim Kardashian scored a win in court on Wednesday amid her divorce from Kanye West. A judge granted the reality star's request to be declared legally single, something the rapper previously opposed, as she and West finalize custody and property issues. Her maiden name was also restored.
Kardashian participated remotely in the bifurcation of marital status hearing, which took place in Los Angeles on Wednesday. The "Runaway" singer did not. In true West fashion, the whole thing wasn't without some drama ahead of time as he fired his attorney on the eve of the hearing.
A source close to Kardashian tells Yahoo Entertainment she is "very happy" to officially be single as she "just wants to move on to the next chapter of her life." The insider claims West, who legally changed his name to Ye, has made that "hard every step of the way."
However, a source close to West refutes that, telling Yahoo his only issue with bifurcation was "procedural."
"I've asked my team to expedite the dissolution of my marriage to Kim so I can put my entire attention to our beautiful children," he tells Yahoo in a statement.
Kardashian alleged in documents her now ex-husband was "putting a lot of misinformation regarding our private family matters and co-parenting on social media which has created emotional distress." A legal expert told Yahoo Entertainment it was "highly likely" the SKIMS founder's request would be granted as bifurcation of marital status is "quite common."
"Most importantly, what this means, is that Kim and Kanye can now remarry. Secondarily, there are various other reasons why this is done," divorce attorney Mark Ressa explained. "Often divorces, especially those conducted in public courts as opposed to parties hiring a private judge, can take years to complete especially where there are complicated financial issues that simply take time to sort out. It is not uncommon for a party to merely want to get on with their life and they need that mental, legal break from their soon-to-be former spouse, and ask for a bifurcation. This was the reason Kim expressed why she wanted to have her marital status returned to single."
Ressa noted that the law only requires "slight evidence" for bifurcation to be granted.
"In fact, the court is more concerned that parties are forced to remain legally bound to one another when keeping the parties 'married' can do nothing but engender additional bitterness and unhappiness. That is exactly what Kim has alleged here to the court," Ressa added. "Hopefully the parties can move on with their lives and focus on seemingly the only issue left in their divorce, namely, custody and visitation of their children."
Although Kardashian's romance with Pete Davidson has been a point of contention for West — he even made a very disturbing music video animating the burial of the SNL comedian — the Grammy winner hasn't exactly been sitting around lonely. After splitting from Julia Fox, he's been photographed out with Kardashian lookalike, model Chaney Jones. The two went Instagram official earlier this week.
MORE: Kim Kardashian makes rare statement ahead of hearing:
