Looking Like A Punk!

I don't know. I was never impressed with either member of this couple. I thought Jessica was young and "wittingly" flighty and that Nick was really good at playing the martyred, salt of the earth husband with a childlike, spoiled wife. Sometimes I also saw him as a whinny little pissant who watched his wife grab the spotlight and fame right from under him. I am sure this is just a legal formality. I heard, someplace, that though California had a community property law, they would have had to have been married for seven years for him to seek spousal support.

Nick Lachey filed papers in L.A. Superior Court on Friday reserving the right to seek spousal support from soon-to-be ex-wife Jessica Simpson, PEOPLE has learned. In her Dec. 16 divorce filing, Simpson, 25, had petitioned that Lachey, 32, not receive alimony.

According to his divorce response, Lachey cited irreconcilable differences for the dissolution of the marriage. Also, he asked the court to confirm that 'miscellaneous jewelry and other personal effects' remain separate property, as well his earnings after the date of separation and additional property assets to be determined.

In his filing, Lachey reports the couple's separation date as Dec. 13 while Simpson cited it was Nov. 23 in her divorce papers. The discrepancy in the dates is particularly relevant because of the nearly $1 million Simpson earned during those weeks that she'd have to split with her former husband under California law.

These days, if you get married without a pre-nup in a "half" state, it's got to be split. I personally think that Jessica's dad did her a disservice by not allowing his post-teen daughter to sign the pre-nup that, the then more popular, Nick wanted. He wasn't exactly banking on his daughter's ultimate success and his miscalculation will ensure that a good hunk of her earnings will go to a fallen boy band member. If spousal support is granted, I think it should come from his salary as her manager. I don't think she had a clue what her father had negotiated for her regarding her marriage.

At the same time, I'm not feeling especially sorry for Nick. He's hardly innocent. There is a price for a grown man who pursues a teenager. He virtually deflowered his virgin "snatch" in the public eye. I guess he felt like a big man with his bride who was a naive, new adult when they got married. Perhaps if he'd married someone his own age, who didn't still have her daddy at the door with the shotgun, he'd have gotten his pre-nup and had someone who was truly ready for marriage. Instead, he married a child. She didn't need another father and she grew up right before his eyes (and America's). He needs to suck it up, get his jewelry and move on! Next stop for him: Dancing With The Stars and/or Surreal Life.