The couple that went strong for 13 years in marriage, finally filed the divorce papers after delaying the process for privacy reasons.
Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen filed the paperwork in a Florida court earlier this week and confirmed in separate statements their marriage had reached the end zone Friday.
“They very often will settle behind closed doors before they let anyone in,” divorce attorney Jacqueline Newman, who did not work with the famed quarterback or Victoria’s Secret Angel, explains. “I think it’s very common. It’s the smarter way to do things.”
Because Bündchen, 42, and Brady, 45, filed in Florida, the divorce documents would’ve been accessible to the public. Newman, who practices in New York where filings remain private, also explained that a public divorce could affect a celebrity’s image.
“You’re not only negotiating issues of custody and issues of finances, but you also have to be very careful if your public image is very valuable,” she says. “It’s just smarter not to put anything out there until you’re done and the ink is dried.”
The couple were married for quite some time and they share two kids; 12-year old Benjamin and 9-year old Vivian. Bundchen was an excellent stepmother to Brady’s son 15-year old Jack, from his previous relationship with Bridget Moynahan, too.
The court documents, reveal the ex-couple took a required “family stabilization” course before divorcing because their marriage was “irretrievably broken.” Brady finished the 4-hour course on Oct. 25 and his supermodel ex completed it on Oct. 26. The records also showed that they have agreed on a marital settlement agreement, which will remain confidential.
Bündchen wrote on her Instagram Story, “We have grown apart and while it is, of course, difficult to go through something like this, I feel blessed for the time we had together and only wish the best for Tom always.”
Brady added in his own statement on Instagram that he and his now-ex-wife had made the “painful and difficult” decision “after much consideration.”
“We only wish the best for each other as we pursue whatever new chapters in our lives that are yet to be written,” he concluded.
