Maria Shriver Files for Divorce from Arnold Schwarzenegger

Papers filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court request joint custody of their 13-and-17-year-old sons

At the beginning of Independence Day Weekend, Maria Shriver filed for divorce from former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

She filed the papers which request joint custody of their two minor children, 17-year-old Patrick and 13-year-old Christopher, in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Friday. Their daughters, Katherine and Christina, are adults.

The couple had been married since April 26, 1986.

In the divorce filing, Shriver's lawyer, Laura A. Wasser, cites "irreconcilable differences" as the reason for the the divorce.

She also asked that Schwarzenegger be required to pay spousal support — and that he be prohibited from asking for Shriver to pay him such support.

Read the filing here

Wasser asked that certain assets be considered separate property. That includes miscellaneous jewelry and other personal effects, "earnings and accumulations of Petitioner from and after the date of separation" and other assets and obligations "the exact nature and extent of which are not presently known."

Both Schwarzenegger and Shriver are wealthy. Shriver is a member of the Kennedy family  — her mother was President John F. Kennedy's sister — and is a former NBC News correspondent. Schwarzenegger is a movie star whose net worth has been estimated at well more than $100 million.

Shriver and Schwarzenegger separated May 9. On May 17, Schwarzenegger acknowledged that he had fathered a child with the family's longtime housekeeper.

Schwarzenegger's lawyer, Marty Singer, was not immediately available for comment Friday.

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