Holmes and Cruise face custody battle

Reuters

(File image) Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise look set for a messy divorce and a bitter custody battle over their daughter, Suri.

London - Tom Cruise will file for divorce from Katie Holmes in California.

The Rock Of Ages actor was “deeply saddened” by Katie's decision to end their five-year marriage on Thursday when she filed official papers in New York, but he will now hit back and ask for the proceedings to continue in Los Angeles as that is where they are normally based.

He will also ask for joint custody of the couple's six-year-old daughter Suri, despite former Dawson's Creek star Katie requesting sole custody of the little girl.

A source told the website RadarOnline: “Tom will file a response in New York, asking that the divorce proceedings be halted in the Big Apple because California is the proper venue for the matter to proceed. Team Cruise is going to assert that Katie doesn't meet the residency requirements to file in New York, and that both live full time in California, specifically Los Angeles.

“At the same time, Tom will file for divorce in California, and will most likely request joint custody of Suri. There is absolutely no way that he is going to let Katie have sole custody. The lines are being drawn, and this is going shape up to be a very contentious custody battle.”

Katie - who has spent the majority of her time over the past few months living in the couple's New York home with Suri - is thought to have filed the papers in New York because she had a better chance of gaining sole custody of Suri.

However, Tom - who also has two children, Isabella, 18, and 17-year-old Connor, with ex-wife Nicole Kidman - will claim that Katie, 33, has no legal right to want the proceedings to happen in New York.

The source added: “Tom's lawyers will state in their response to Katie's divorce petition in New York that she didn't reside continuously in New York for a year, as the law states. Yes, they do have a home in New York, but Tom will argue that Los Angeles is where they live, period.”

The couple married in Italy in November 2006 and despite the 49-year-old star recently claiming how happy they were, sources say Katie had been wanting to end the marriage for months.

They claimed she had grown tired of his “suffocating” behaviour and was worried about raising their daughter in the controversial religion of Scientology, which counts Tom as one of its biggest followers. - Bang Showbiz