Katie Holmes seeks sole custody of Suri Cruise in divorce battle – Celebrity News

Katie Holmes, who has filed for divorce from hubby Tom Cruise after 5 years of marriage, has asked for sole legal custody of their six-year-old daughter Suri.

According to TMZ, this will be setting up the couple for a high profile legal battle if Cruise chooses to contest her claim.

The pair signed a prenuptial agreement before their wedding in November 2006, which guarantees Holmes a yearly sum.

However, legal experts said that the actor could be prepared to give up a larger slice of his 160-million-pound fortune in return for Holmes remaining silent about the of their marriage.

Cruise remains one of the world’s most bankable actors. The star of ‘Top Gun’ and the ‘Mission: Impossible’ franchise earned an estimated 50 million pounds last year alone and runs his own Hollywood production company.

“One thing you can rely on is that Tom Cruise will have an airtight pre-nup. This is a man who is in control of everything and the pre-nup will be pretty restrictive,” the Telegraph quoted Michael Kelly, a leading Californian divorce lawyer who specialises in pre-nuptial agreements, as saying.

“He could choose to give Katie a bigger settlement, as Tiger Woods did with his wife, but that will be his choice.

“There is also the prospect of a custody dispute, which he will want to avoid,” the lawyer said.

This will be the third divorce for Cruise. He was married to Mimi Rogers, the actress, from 1987-1990 and to Nicole Kidman from 1990-2001, with whom he adopted two children.

The couple were last photographed together in February and Miss Holmes was absent from the red carpet during Cruise’s recent promotional tour for Rock of Ages.

“Kate has filed for divorce. Tom is deeply saddened and is concentrating on his three children,” a spokesman for Cruise said.