Football legend Jerry Rice’s wife Jacqueline Rice filed for divorce in June 2007. The former couple was finally divorced late last month. However, their family court dispute is not yet over.

In the two and a half years since the initial divorce filing, the couple has exchanged financial information. They presumably sold their multi-million dollar Northern California mansion (it was originally on the market for $22 million). And they agreed to at least a partial distribution of certain retirement accounts via Qualified Domestic Relations Orders (QDROs) – although those could have been used to fund the divorce litigation.

They were finally divorced in a bifurcated proceeding in December 2009. In a bifurcated divorce, a couple asks the judge to legally terminate the marriage, making each party single again, while preserving other, more complex issues for resolution at a later date. Bifurcation is often used in cases with complicated financial matters or in cases with serious child custody conflict.

Many states do not allow bifurcation at all – California family law does permit bifurcation. As we’ve seen here in this blog, celebrities – who often have complex financial holdings – often utilize bifurcated divorce.

Library topics: divorce, division of retirement accounts, bifurcated divorce, California family law