A Summary of the Tonya Harding Divorce
The Tonya Harding Divorce was finalized in 1993, a near 3-year marriage between Tonya Harding and Jeff Gillooly – the couple was wed in 1990; at the time of the marriage, Tanya Harding was a mere 19 years of age. Speculation surrounding the Tonya Harding Divorce suggests that the events leading up to the Tonya Harding Divorce included allegations of an erratic and tumultuous marriage:
For those unfamiliar with the Tonya Harding Divorce, at the time of her divorce, Tonya Harding remained in the news for both her undertaking as a professional ice skater, as well as a variety of allegations by the media of erratic behavior and unsportsmanlike conduct within competitions
Perhaps the most common incident involving Tonya Harding and Jeff Gillooly was their planned attack on fellow figure skater Nancy Kerrigan in 1994; despite the Tonya Harding Divorce, the couple still maintained a shared residence. However, Tonya Harding expressed through a variety of interviews that Jeff Gillooly was an abusive partner, oftentimes threatening her with physical violence, as well as aggravated assault with a deadly weapon
Although the terms of the Tonya Harding Divorce were not released, Jeff Gillooly was sentenced to a 6-month prison sentence subsequent to the Tonya Harding Divorce as a result of his role in the assault on Nancy Kerrigan
The Determination of Contest within the Tonya Harding Divorce
In many cases, the celebrity status enjoyed by both Tonya Harding and Jeff Gillooly would be viewed as a gift and a privilege; however, in the case of the Tonya Harding Divorce, the media coverage latent within the Tonya Harding Divorce proceedings thrust the legal undertakings into the spotlight – a dynamic that was considered to threaten the privacy of the couple facing dissolution:
In the event that a couple mutually decides to file for divorce in an uncontested fashion, which means that the couple has both agreed to the terms of the divorce settlement, as well as to the reasoning for the ultimate dissolution of the marriage, the specific details of the divorce settlement are not released to the public record
In an attempt to maintain privacy with regard to not only the monetary terms and conditions of the Tonya Harding Divorce settlement, but also with regard to the alleged reasons for the Tonya Harding Divorce taking place, the respective legal teams belonging to Tonya Harding and Jeff Gillooly determined that the Tonya Harding Divorce would be filed as uncontested in nature
The Tonya Harding Divorce and the Public Record
The respective celebrity status shared by both Tonya Harding and Jeff Gillooly – within the Tonya Harding Divorce settlement – would allow for personal and privileged details latent within the personal relationship shared by Tonya Harding and Jeff Gillooly to be released into public record. Yet, the terms of the Tonya Harding Divorce were not released:
The legal stipulations undertaken within a celebrity divorce – akin to those inherent within traditional divorces – express strict parameters with regard to the release of the specific divorce settlement to public record
The realm of public record allows the terms of a divorce settlement to be accessed within the realm of common law – a primary tenet of common law allows past cases to serve as legislative parameters taken into consideration by specific judicial review.
