A few days ago, it seemed like things might be getting pretty close to an ultimate resolution between The Voice star Kelly Clarkson and her former husband Brandon Blackstock. For a while, he’d been pushing to get the prenup he’d signed prior to marriage invalidated by a judge. That didn’t work, and the details related to their divorce began to be hammered out more fully. Yet, apparently Blackstock still thinks it ain’t over til it’s over, and things are getting a little uncomfortable.
The gist is that Brandon Blackstock spends a lot of time on the Montana ranch, but the whole family had been there together through the early part of 2020 when families were all quarantined together. After Kelly Clarkson and Blackstock called it quits, he remained on the ranch and she returned to her life in Tinseltown, but they’ve been fighting over the property as part of their divorce in recent months.
Speaking with TMZ, Brandon Blackstock stated that the “judge hasn’t ruled on anything yet, no," before cutting off any additional comment on the matter. In fact, however, a short time ago the judge did say that the prenuptial agreement that he had signed as part of marrying Clarkson back in 2013 was going to be upheld. This meant that any assets and property Clarkson had obtained using her assets during the course of their marriage would remain hers -- including that Montana ranch.
In fact, a judge specifically called out the ranch in question when talking about properties previously belonging to the couple that were bought by Kelly Clarkson. That judge ruled the ranch was not community property as Blackstock’s legal team had been claiming. At the end of September, a judge specifically noted:
The Court therefore rejects Respondent's [Brandon's] position that the Montana Ranch and other Montana properties are marital property owned 50/50 by the Parties.
Here’s where things get sticky. Clarkson's money may have bought and paid for the Montana home, but from the outside looking in, it seems to be the place where his heart was, not hers. It costs an alleged $81,000 to keep up each month and, by all accounts, the “Stronger” singer wants to sell the ranch and move on from it. Only, reportedly, Brandon Blackstock is making that difficult for the talk show host and reality competition star.
Varying reports have mentioned that he has remained on the property, with some even mentioning Blackstock's been squatting, or at the very least making it hard for Kelly Clarkson to show the property to potential buyers. When he spoke with TMZ he was actually at LAX, so he is at least leaving the property on occasion. However, it also seems from his recent comments he may feel more things need to be clarified before he’s willing to yield the property.
As for the rest of the divorce proclamations, it’s not as if Brandon Blackstock is coming out of this empty-handed. Kelly Clarkson has agreed to pay $45,000 a month in child support and an additional $150,000 in spousal support; he just may not be coming out of the court system with the asset he wanted most. Coming up, the divorce seems to be coming to a conclusion, though from the latest, it looks like we might still expect more awkwardness ahead.
