Divorce papers filed by Vanessa Bryant Friday in Orange County Superior Court suggest that she and Kobe Bryant had been negotiating the terms of their split for some time. Though details of the settlement were not in the document, Vanessa Bryant's mother previously told a Times reporter that the couple had no prenuptial agreement. She told The Times in 2005 the couple choose to forgo one after months of negotiations.

The court filing Friday indicated that property rights were to be determined. Photos: Kobe and Vanessa Bryant through the years "She just came home one day and said something to the effect that Kobe didn't want a prenup, that he loved her too much," Sofia Urbieta Laine said in a 2005 interview. In the petition filed in Orange County Superior Court, Vanessa Bryant cited "irreconcilable differences" as the reason for the divorce.

In what appears to be an effort to keep the details of their split out of the public eye, the couple said in a joint statement late Friday that they had "resolved all issues incident to their divorce privately." Vanessa Bryant and her attorney had signed the petition Dec. 1, long before it was filed Friday. Her husband's response was signed Dec. 7.

Both sides requested joint custody of their daughters Natalia, 8, and Gianna, 5. A final judgment dissolving their marriage will be entered sometime next year, representatives for the couple said.

(source La Times)