All Mariah Carey wants (for Christmas, and otherwise) is a divorce, but Nick Cannon apparently refuses to cooperate. Sources connected to the former couple have revealed that Mariah has been trying to convince Nick to sign off on the divorce for almost a year, but that he has repeatedly declined to do so.
Nick, 35, and Mariah, 46, tied the knot in 2008 at her private estate on Windermere Island in the Bahamas. They separated in August 2014, and Nick filed for divorce in December of that year. Soon after their separation, Nick and Mariah settled their corollary issues – coming to a property settlement agreement, and agreeing to joint custody of their 5-year-old twins, Monroe and Moroccan.
TMZ reports that although Nick initially wanted out of the marriage, he “still loves Mariah” and does not want her to marry her billionaire fiancé, James Packer.
Nick addressed these rumors and told Extra that, “there’s nothing to tell… me and Mariah get along great, and it’s a process, nobody is holding nothing up. Why would I hold it up? I want her to be happy”.
Whether they’re amicable or not, Mariah is understandably frustrated and not flattered by the delays – she wants out of this marriage so that she can wed her new Australian beau.
Luckily for Mariah, if one party wants a divorce, there is very little the other party can do to affect or restrict their ability to obtain one.
In Ontario, unless there are claims related to adultery or cruelty, a one-year separation period is all that is required in order for parties to be eligible for a divorce. Mutual agreement or consent are unnecessary. A party can unilaterally choose to live separate and apart for the purposes of divorce, and once the one year period is satisfied, the party may apply to the court for a divorce. Unless there are unresolved matrimonial matters (such that they will remain unresolved if a divorce is granted), the court has the discretion and is likely to grant a divorce.
Since divorce is the only formal way to terminate a marriage, the other spouse’s consent to the divorce is predominantly irrelevant. This is especially true if there are extenuating circumstances that require a divorce judgement (such as a pending remarriage, where the only reason the other spouse is opposing the divorce is due to jealously, resentment or revenge).
Consequently, if Mariah can demonstrate that a) Nick is stalling and dragging out the pending divorce only to delay her remarriage, and b) they have settled all their other matrimonial matters like custody, support, and property division, then it is more than likely that a court will grant her the divorce she so badly wants and needs – irrespective of Nick’s wishes or failure to sign off on the papers.