Kate: Marriage Is "Irretrievably Broken"

(CBS/AP)  Kate Gosselin says in divorce papers that her marriage to Jon is "irretrievably broken."

The star of TLC's reality show "Jon & Kate Plus 8" filed for a no-fault divorce Monday in Montgomery County Court in Pennsylvania. She said in papers that she's willing to "negotiate a fair and reasonable" settlement with her husband of 10 years.

The divorce filing was obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press. Lawyers for the couple said it contains boilerplate language common to all no-fault divorce petitions filed in Pennsylvania.

The TV series follows Jon and Kate Gosselin as they raise their eight young children, including 8-year-old twins and sextuplets who just turned 5.

Monday night's show, in which the couple announced their separation and divorce, drew a record audience of 10.6 million viewers.

Attorneys for both Jon and Kate Gosselin said Tuesday that the couple lived together on their Berks County compound until recently.

"They have been living 'separate and apart' just within the last week or two," said Jon's attorney, Charles Meyer, using a term from the divorce petition.

The court document does not explain what led to the split. But in a statement released to the media, Kate asserted that "Jon's activities" over the weekend had left her "no choice but to file legal procedures in order to protect myself and our children." She did not elaborate. Both Jon and Kate deny tabloid accusations that they cheated on each other.

"To be honest, I was hurt by Kate's statement about the divorce," Jon countered Tuesday in his own release. "I have always done everything I can to protect our family. This weekend, I was home with the kids for four days, just being a dad. No nannies, just the kids and me."

He added that while "emotions are running high for both of us right now," he hopes to "resolve things amicably."

Adding to the strain, Pennsylvania's Labor Department opened an investigation into whether the show's production is complying with state child labor laws. TLC has said it "fully complies" with state laws and regulations.

Mickey Sherman, a defense lawyer, told CBS News correspondent Terrell Brown, "When you factor in that you've got two TV stars, residuals, eight kids, and enormous amounts of money being in jeopardy, it's a mess."

The couple plan to spend equal time with their children at the $1.1 million house they moved into last year, with Kate staying elsewhere when he has custody, and Jon making other living arrangements when it's her turn, according to the statement.

Kate's lawyer, Cheryl Young, said Tuesday that the couple has already started negotiating the terms of the divorce.

[ShermanMiller]

It is very disquieting to think that eight babies under the age of nine got parents who are too ego-blinded to make the emotional sacrifice needed to provide them with a unified family structure. Long term marriages have crises of all sorts, but husbands and wives learn to work through them. The key to long tenured marriage is one decides that he or she will make it work and not fall prey to the fascination of divorce. I think it is disingenuous for the television industry to continue to run a television show that is a lie where eight babies are relegated to being stage props.

[ShermanMiller]

It is very disquieting to think that eight babies under the age of nine got parents who are too ego-blinded to make the emotional sacrifice needed to provide them with a unified family structure. Long term marriages have crises of all sorts, but husbands and wives learn to work through them. The key to long tenured marriage is one decides that he or she will make it work and not fall prey to the fascination of divorce. I think it is disingenuous for the television industry to continue to run a television show that is a lie where eight babies are relegated to being stage props.

[stealth54]

What's with TLC anyhow? Seems that they are in the business of displaying family breakups and shouting matches. And it takes forever for them to get the job done. Kate I think is a phony with all of the nice talk in front of the camera. The poor kids are the ones that always suffer. I kinda felt sorry for her until I learned that she filed the divorce.

[riob678]

The media has drug this story out to the point of the ridiculous. It seems the process of ending the marriage is lasting longer than the marriage itself. Move on!

[randomlybanned]

Okay, now we know, we can all go back to our mundane lives.

[britney171]

Kate Gosselin lost her scruples around the same time she got that ridiculous haircut. Fame has gone to her irregularly coiffed head. If, as she says, she truly wants what's best for her kids, she should stop the show immediately and come back to planet Earth.

[saturday8pm]

A highway accident ... a driveby shooting ... it's all the same ...
we're all interested in strangers' misfortunes, unwilling to get out and help ...
disposable crap.

[SusanStoHelit]

The law is that one party can have a divorce if they've been separated 2 years, otherwise both parties need to agree - or it takes more time. Sounds to me like someone has lied on some paperwork to try to get the easier divorce.

When you have kids, divorce shouldn't be easy - neither of them have even the remotest notion of what they are about to lose by giving their kids only one parent at home at a time.

[democracy1]

This woman is such a transparent phony.

How long does it take to put one of these episodes into production? Surely more than the day or so between "Jon's activities" and the time that it aired on Monday night with the message that legal proceedings were initiated.

She knew for at least a few days that she was planning on having those papers filed on Monday.

But she insists that "the show must go on." (Really? Even if it's not good for the kids in the long-run? That pretty much says it all.)

Add to that the fact that they went through the phony marriage vow renewals in Hawaii (nice all-expenses-paid vacation, courtesy of TLC).

And her sad assertion that everything she does is to do "what's best for the kids". (Of course she's never wrong about anything--how insufferably arrogant and narcissistic.)

Kate, here's a hint: Stop being an obsessive-compulsive control freak and learn to treat your partner with respect. Learn to compromise and as Jon once said "get the stick out."

The sky won't come crashing down if there are crumbs on the floor or the kids aren't dressed in cute little matchy-matchy spotless outfits. But it will crash (and has) when you are so rigid, controlling and rude that you end up alienating everyone around you.

THAT is most definitely NOT "what's best for the kids". For their sake, get some seriously overdue therapy, give up the show and go back to nursing.

[nbenn514]

Kate boo hooed- it's not what she wanted - it was all jon's fault - yet SHE's the one who filed for divorce. And, I love that she says they can't agree on how to divide the assets - for heaven's sakes their assets are all a result of the kids so the assets should be split 50/50 - they are both the kids' parents. Kate is the most narcissitic person I've ever heard of! The notion that she's "all alone" raising those kids "all by herself" boo hoo Kate is nonsense. She's gone all the time on speaking tours and when she's home she has the revolving door of fireable nannies to help her. Last time she was shown alone with the kids, she was spanking one of them for making too much noise when she was on the phone. She is such a jerk. She's estranged from her family, then her friends, now her husband. The kids will be next and she'll boo hoo to everyone who will listen how she did everything she could to hold the situation together but everyone had the audacity to be disobedient and not follow her orders. What a piece of work she is.

[SusanStoHelit]

Looks to me like she's lying about the time they've been separated too - not uncommon - to make the divorce easier to get.