October 10, 2007: Legally Un-bonded

Reese Witherspoon's divorce from Ryan Philippe is now confirmed.

by Jeffrey Cottrill

Court documents revealed on October 10 that the divorce between actors Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Philippe is now official after almost a year, according to TMZ.com.

The celebrity-news website reported that the court had confirmed the couple's divorce on Friday, October 5.

Witherspoon, 31, filed for divorce on November 8 last year and cited irreconcilable differences, in spite of a possible affair. She requested primary physical custody and joint legal custody of the couple's children, eight-year-old Ava and three-year-old Deacon, and asked the court to prevent any attempt on Philippe's part to win spousal support. Philippe did not seek spousal support, however. The couple had no prenuptial agreement.

More information on divorce and parenting: Educating Parents Parental Control Conflict & Parenting The Co-parenting Relationship Divorce School for Parents

TMZ claimed in February that "there was plenty of bad blood at the time they separated," due to an alleged affair by Philippe, 33. However, he and Witherspoon were later spotted together in Brentwood, California at their daughter's school play, and the site reported that the relationship had become "civil" by then.

Both actors recently revealed in separate interviews that their divorce and the affair had inflicted traumatic emotional effects on their respective lives; Witherspoon told Elle she'd suffered from panic attacks because of her husband's affair, and Philippe claimed on Contactmusic.com that he'd felt suicidal.

The couple met at Witherspoon's 21st birthday party in 1997 and co-starred shortly thereafter in the movie Cruel Intentions. They married in June 1999.

Witherspoon, who won an Academy Award in 2006 for her performance as June Carter Cash in Walk the Line, is set to appear in the upcoming political thriller Rendition, with Jake Gyllenhaal and Meryl Streep.

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