Sandra Bullock Marriage Trouble: What Happens If She Divorces?

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Jesse James and Sandra Bullock

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Bullock's Marriage In Trouble?

After the allegations of cheating by Sandra Bullock's husband and TV personality Jesse James with tattoo model Michelle 'Bombshell' McGee, many believe Sandra Bullock's marriage might be in trouble. Bullock has canceled her appearance at London premiere of her Oscar-winning movie "The Blind Side" over "unforeseen personal reasons." On his end, James shut down his Twitter page in the wake of McGee's comments. No explanation was issued as to why James' popular Twitter accoutt has been deleted.

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Moreover, it is being reported that Bullock moved out of the family's L.A. home after cheating allegations surfaced. James' mistress Michelle 'Bombshell' McGee said she got involved with James because she thought the couple was no longer together. It is alleged that James and McGee were romantically involved for the last eleven months while Bullock was away filming "The Blind Side." Bullock's Oscar-winning movie was filmed in Atlanta, Georgia, keeping Bullock away from home in L.A., California and Austin, Texas where she has two houses.


What Happens If The Couple Decides To Divorce?

In case Sandra Bullock And Jesse James split, their divorce could be complicated.

First of all, the couple has two family homes. One of their family homes is in Los Angeles, California. Jesse James' business West Coast Choppers is also in Long Beach, California. However, Bullock also resides in Austin, where she allegedly owns two houses. The actress seems to be pretty involved in Austin, where she owns two businesses. She also reports for jury in Texas, according to local sources. James seemed to be pretty keen about Austin, where the couple spent some time.

This puts Bullock and James in an interesting position. James is the one who is alleged to have committed adultery, which gives Bullock grounds for divorce. Although the couple primarily resides in California, Bullock can technically file for divorce in Texas. Bullock and James married in 2005 in Santa Barbara, California. But, according to U.S. law, a married couple does not need to get divorced in the state in which they got married. Most divorce cases throughout the United States are filed in the country in which the filing spouse resides, which would mean Bullock can file for divorce in Texas as well.

And, filing in Texas versus California would make a world of a difference to each spouse's financial affairs.

In 2007, Forbes reported Sandra Bullock's net worth at $85 million. She was named one of the twenty richest women in entertainment.

In Texas, adultery is a legit ground for filing, which means the court may grant a divorce in favour of one spouse  if the other spouse has committed adultery. That also means James may forfeit claims to Bullock's assets by cheating, but she may not forfeit claims to his. Texas does approve 'no fault' ground for filing "if the marriage has become insupportable because of discord or conflict of personalities." But, that does not seem to be true in Bullock's case as the couple was happily married before the cheating allegations arose.

In California, there is a residency requirement.

Given Bullock is away a lot, it is not clear if this requirement would be satisfied. The grounds for filing include:

(a) irreconcilable differences, which have caused irremediable breakdown of the marriage
(b) incurable insanity

Again, it seems none of the two applies in Bullock/ James case because the couple did not previously acknowledge that there were any irreconcilable differences between them. Adultery is not one of the legal grounds for divorce in California.