After months of rumors, singer Avril Lavigne has filed for divorce from rocker husband Deryck Whibley. In her divorce petition, Lavigne cites “irreconcilable differences” , is not asking for spousal support, and has also requested not to pay spousal support to Whibley, frontman for the rock band Sum 41.
The couple separated on September 4th and was married for three years. In her blog, the singer confirmed the split, noting that they had been together for 6 1/2 years – first dating when she was 19 and Whibley was 23.
Reports indicate that Lavigne left Whibley and forced him to move out of their $9.5 million, 12,000-square-foot estate in Bel Air. She has recently been seen out with Dole Foods heir Justin Murdock. Whibley is rumoured to be dating a model.
“I am grateful for our time together, and I am grateful and blessed for our remaining friendship. I admire Deryck and have a great amount of respect for him. He is the most amazing person I know, and I love him with all my heart,” Lavigne noted in her blog. “Deryck and I are separating and moving forward on a positive note.”
While Lavigne and Whibley are both Canadian, they can be legally divorced in California, as they were married in California and apparently resided in California during their marriage. The former couple has no children. It is unknown whether there is a prenuptial agreement or not. While both parties are successful, it appears (at least to the casual observer) that Lavigne is the more financially successful of the two. Both, however, likely have substantial pre-marital property as well as marital earnings to consider.
Because this was a relatively short-term marriage, because there were no children and because both parties are of independent means, I would be surprised if this divorce is NOT handled fairly quickly and quietly.
2 Comments
Becareful of yellow journalism. According to reports, Avril’s reps have stated that she and Justin “have never even met.” For a legal blog, you sure have avoided providing citations to legal documents you mention.
The only legal document we’ve mentioned is the petition for dissolution. A copy of it can be seen here: http://images.eonline.com/static/news/pdf/avrildivorce.pdf .
And most tabloids and websites have reported that Avril’s reps dismissed reports that she was “dating” Justin Murdock as untrue. Dismissing rumors – even those that are true – is the typical M.O. for Hollywood publicists. (I saw only one website (justjared.com) that cited unnamed “sources” that said Avril had never met Murdock.)
Thanks for your comment!