Former TV golden couple is officially over

Dec 19, 2009 10:52 GMT  ·  By

It’s been a long and very bitter legal fight, but the end has come: Jon and Kate Gosselin are officially divorced, TMZ informs. The case was finally settled by the judge, while an arbitrator is still working on the division of property between the two, which also includes revenue from their now-defunct TLC reality series, “Jon & Kate Plus 8.”

“TMZ has learned... It’s official – Jon & Kate Gosselin are divorced. Judge Arthur Tilson has signed the final papers, making Jon and Kate officially single. Mark Momjian, Kate’s lawyer, tells TMZ, under the agreement, ‘Our client will continue to reside with all eight of her children in the former marital home’,” TMZ writes of the divorce proceedings. Neither party would say more of the specifics of the agreement save that they are both “pleased with the outcome,” the same e-zine informs.

Kate Gosselin also issued a statement as regards the finalization of the divorce, saying she was eager to go on with her life without Jon and getting back to normal. “On behalf of myself and my legal team, I want to express my deep appreciation to the Judge and his staff, as well as to the arbitrator, for resolving this case. This has been a challenging transition for all of us, but I am confident that we will move ahead with the important task of restructuring our lives,” she says.

Jon, on the other hand, chose to talk about the children in his first statement since the judge called their marriage off. In it, he says that he will focus from now on only on the wellbeing of the eight children he has with his now-ex, and that he is confident he and Kate will somehow find a way to make things work out. As it’s already known, Kate Gosselin retains full custody of the kids, with Jon being awarded only visitation rights.

Jon and Kate announced they were getting a divorce in June this year, on their reality show. At the time, speculation had it that they had actually been separated for far longer and that they had kept up appearances for the sake of the show.