Katie's parents, her father Martin Holmes, is a prominent Ohio-based attorney
Katie Holmes filed for divorce last Thursday in Manhattan and is asking for sole custody and "prime residential custody" of her six year old daughter Suri. She has retained two firms who specialize in celebrity divorce, New York lawyer Allan E Mayefsky, and a New Jersey lawyer Jonathan Wolfe, a prenuptial agreement expert who excels at finding ways to recover hidden assets. "Katie's primary concern remains, as it has always been, her daughter's best interest" he said.
Tom Cruise has retained Dennis Wasser, the same attorney he used when he divorced his second wife, Nicole Kidman. He will be seeking joint custody of Suri.
Katie and Suri moved out of the family's Manhattan apartment on Thursday to a new address in the city, close by a gymnastics studio where Suri takes classes. Katie believes Scientology now see her as a threat and thinks they have been following her around. She has noticed a white Cadillac and a black Mercedes SUV outside her apartment for the past week. However, Scientology has denied there is any surveillance of Katie currently going on.
Both children Cruise and Kidman adopted while they were married are now committed Scientologists. Conor, now 17 and 19-year-old Isabella have lived in the family's mansion in Beverly Hills with Cruise's sister Cass Mapother and her three sons. Holmes was said to feel excluded and lonely and struck up a close friendship with Victoria Beckham but when the Beckhams made it clear they would not sign up to Scientology, the friendship ended.
Isabella moved out of the mansion this year and into an apartment in Los Angeles with her boyfriend Eddie Frencher, also a Scientologist. She cleared the air about rumours that she and Nicole Kidman's relationship was 'strained'. She said "I love mom, she's my mom, she's great, I see her sometimes and I often speak to her."
Katie is reported to be terrified that Suri has reached the age when Scientology schooling will begin in earnest and she will lose control over her daughter's religion and education. Suri is unable to have friends her own age or attend a regular school and is treated like an adult and encouraged to make her own decisions. There is sure to be a battle and it's unlikely that Cruise will give up control of his daughter without a fight.
As the world looks on and the cult of Scientology is once again in the spotlight, we can only hope that Katie's lawyers are clever enough to get Suri away from her father's influence and into the arms of her mother, where she will be allowed to grow up in an ordinary, happy environment.
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