UPDATE, FEB. 20, 1:25 P.M.: Though Kobe and Vanessa Bryant were photographed kissing on Valentine's Day, as of this morning it was full speed ahead on their divorce.
Records in Orange County court reportedly show the Newport Coast couple is dividing their assets, with the former Vanessa Laine of Huntington Beach receiving an estimated $18.8 million in property from the Black Mamba, who will likely lose half a fortune estimated at $150 million to her while also paying child and spousal support.
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Vanessa never signed a pre-nup.
However, in light of the public show of affection, the Los Angeles Times quotes divorce experts saying it is not unusual for couples to continue dividing property while also working on reconciliations. Family law attorney Chris Melcher reportedly says some couples who get back together after divvying up property are stronger because both wind up on equal financial footing.
ORIGINAL POST, FEB. 15, 3:57 P.M.: Kobe and Vanessa Bryant are reportedly working on a
reconciliation, something they punctuated on Valentine's Day by
passionately kissing one another . . . where?
Right smack in the tunnel leading to the Staples Center locker room.
And that was after the former Vanessa Laine of Huntington Beach was seen passionately cheering on her former? man while Black Mamba's Lakers were beating the Atlanta Hawks.
Harvey Levin's Hollywood gossip site TMZ gets the scoop after having first reported at the time the couple was filing their respective divorce papers that insiders would not be surprised if the split didn't stick.
Despite the Mrs. getting all three Newport Coast mansions as part of a recently revealed settlement, the divorce is not scheduled to become final until mid-June, so the couple can still back out before then.
Adds TMZ: “FYI–we're told Kobe and Vanessa are NOT living with each other . . . yet.”
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OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.