Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban’s divorce: Custody, houses, money, and claims he didn’t support her career

There’s no turning back from the breakup between Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban. While it was revealed on Monday that the couple had separated this summer, on Tuesday it was confirmed that the Oscar-winning actress had indeed formally filed for divorce from the singer. Since then, details have trickled out about a relationship that, like so many in Hollywood, no matter how bright it may have been on the outside, was already empty on the inside.

What is clear, in any case, is that the divorce is final, with Kidman, 58, remaining in her Nashville home with her daughters while Urban, 57, is already in a new home in the same city. The singer’s lawyers filed the divorce papers on Tuesday, September 30 — also set as the formal separation date — in Davidson County, Tennessee. They are extremely detailed. In the grounds for divorce, Kidman cites “marital difficulties and irreconcilable differences.” The issues involved are finances, real estate, and custody of their two daughters, although this has largely been resolved. Therefore, the settlement is not as imminent as it seemed when it hit the headlines.

Urban and Kidman sealed a custody agreement weeks ago: the singer’s signature on it dates back to August 29, and the actress’s on September 6, as shown in the legal documents obtained by People magazine. With this agreement, Kidman becomes the primary parent of Sunday Rose, 17, and Faith Margaret, 14. The girls will be with her 306 days a year, while Urban will have them for 59 days.

The agreement is very specific. The singer will be with the girls on alternate weekends, from Saturday at 10 a.m. to Sunday at 6 p.m. (both during the school year and in the summer), in addition to Father’s Day. Kidman will have them every Easter and Mother’s Day. The actress will spend spring break with them in even-numbered years, while the musician will spend the same period with them in odd-numbered years. They will also alternate Thanksgiving holidays each year. As for Christmas, Kidman will have the girls to herself in odd-numbered years; in even-numbered years, they will share those days equally. Both must encourage the girls to love their other parent, and will take a course for divorced parents together within two months of signing the agreement.

There will be no child support for the spouse or for the children; each will cover the teenagers’ expenses while with them. According to the agreement, Urban has already prepaid the necessary funds and will not have to contribute any more money to Kidman, even though she spends five times as much time with them. He has already covered “all sums for his share of nanny and other childcare-related expenses, private school expenses, and extracurricular expenses for the minor children through the date each child reaches the age of majority and graduates high school,” per the agreement. They will have to make joint educational, medical, and religious decisions.

“Each party is responsible for their own debts,” the agreement states, explaining that both Urban’s and Kidman’s monthly income exceeds $100,000. Both parties maintain separate bank accounts and investments, ranging from stocks to funds. Their intellectual property and jobs are also very distinct, so there’s nothing to divide there. The agreement goes into such detail that it even mentions that airline and hotel loyalty cards and points received for using their credit cards are associated with each party and, therefore, are not subject to claim by the other.

Furthermore, they do not own any property in their own names, “either individually or jointly,” and therefore neither of them has any interest in said assets unless reflected in the agreement. This is because they own their real estate “through trusts, limited liability companies and/or other entities.” Therefore, these assets are divided according to these companies, and the other cannot claim them. “All household furniture, furnishings, appliances, art, and other items of personal property,” must be divided between them. Clothes, cars, and jewelry also belong to each of them.

Although the two will continue to live in Nashville, at least for now, they have their pick of properties. In addition to the Nashville farm they bought in 2008 for $3 million at the time, which includes a seven-bedroom home, a movie theater, a tennis court, and a pool, among other amenities, they also own a 100-acre farm in Australia (home to an 1878 Georgian-style mansion) and two apartments in a luxury building overlooking Sydney Harbour; a 4,300-square-foot, five-bedroom mansion in Beverly Hills, California; and two apartments in New York (a two-bedroom apartment in Tribeca and a 1,000-square-foot duplex in Chelsea).

The level of detail in the divorce filing suggests that the separation had been brewing for some time. Although it came as a complete surprise to the public, details about it have emerged from sources close to the couple. They have told various outlets how the actress feels “hurt and betrayed,” given that she tried to fight to save her marriage and believed she could, while the musician opted for a breakup and decided to move on. “It’s devastating to her. She’s shocked,” sources close to the couple told People magazine.

Kidman and Urban haven’t been seen together since June: she spent much of the summer in London, filming the sequel to Practical Magic; he’s been touring with his High and Alive World Tour. It has now emerged that the actress has been leaning on her daughters, as well as her sister Antonia. In fact, she and their children were featured in the photos in which Kidman reminisced about her summer on Instagram. Her then-husband of the past 19 years was not seen.

However, those who know them tell the media that it’s not just that their lives have gone separate ways, but that Urban has gone through rough patches and made “questionable decisions,” without providing further details. Therefore, those around him saw it as “inevitable.” Furthermore, Urban apparently hasn’t been as supportive of Kidman’s career as she has been of his, according to sources close to the couple. When they married in 2006 and had their daughters, the Oscar winner spent some time away from the cameras, but in recent years she has sought more roles and a greater presence in the industry, and he hasn’t been happy with it. The girls love seeing her on screen and support her, but he, they say, has “not been as supportive as she hoped.”

As Kidman recounted last year in an interview with CBS News, it was her mother (who passed away last December) who insisted she not abandon her career. “We were living on a farm,” recalled Kidman, “and that’s when my mother said, ‘I wouldn’t give up completely. Keep a finger sort of in it.’ And I’m like, ‘No, no. I’m done now. I’m done.’ She’s going, ‘Just listen to me. Keep moving forward. Not saying that you have to do it to the level you’ve been doing it, but I wouldn’t give it up completely.’”

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition