A recent report suggests the divorce petition filed by actress Halle Berry may not be legally recognized by the court due to Berry using false names on the petition and improperly serving her husband, Olivier Martinez.
Rolling Out recently reported that the divorce petition filed by Berry cited irreconcilable differences, but did not contain her or Martinez's real name and was filed under psuedonyms to protect their privacy.
TMZ first reported the story, stating that the mother of one filed the petition under the name Hal Maria, which is a shorter version of her first name and her middle name. For her husband, she listed his name as Oliver Martin instead of Olivier Martinez and their son Maceo, was filed under the name Mac Martin. The site pointed out how filing a legal document under a ficticious name may present an issue for Berry if the court does not recognize the document as legit.
Additionally, Berry reportedly hand-delivered the document to Martinez which is an improper way of legally serving someone papers. According to TMZ, under California law where two parties are involved in the petition, one party can not serve the other party.
According to People, the pair decided to end their marriage after only two years but still wished the best for each other. In a released statement to People, they mutually announced the news of the split:
"It is with a heavy heart that we have come to the decision to divorce," Berry and Martinez explained. "We move forward with love and respect for one another and the shared focus of what is best for our son. We wish each other nothing but happiness in life and we hope that you respect our and, most importantly, our children's privacy as we go through this difficult period."
The two met on the set of Dark Tide, and were engaged for one year before marrying in France on July 13, 2013.
