Jax Taylor has hired Kevin Federline’s attorney amid his divorce proceedings with Brittany Cartwright, which none of Us had on our 2024 Bingo card.
After Cartwright, 35, filed for divorce in August, Taylor, 45, responded with his own dissolution of marriage request on Thursday, October 4. According to court documents obtained by Us Weekly, Taylor listed Mark Vincent Kaplan as his lawyer, who also represents Federline, 46.
Taylor’s decision to lawyer up comes after he made an error on divorce paperwork he filed last month while representing himself. In the docs obtained by Us, Taylor checked a box indicating that he and Cartwright, who tied the knot in 2019, were never legally married. A rep for The Valley stars subsequently told Us in a statement that Taylor simply made a mistake.
“While Jax made errors in filling out forms that are usually done by trained legal professionals, those errors will be amended without delay,” the statement read.
The rep also addressed Taylor’s decision to give Cartwright primary legal and physical custody of their 3-year-old son, Cruz, telling Us, “Jax and Brittany have already long resolved all matters related to custody of Cruz, and will continue to work together privately for the best interest of their son, which remains their overriding concern.”
Cartwright couldn’t resist taking a dig at her ex when reacting to his error.
“We are legally married. I’m guessing paperwork is hard for some people,” she wrote via Instagram on Wednesday, October 2, alongside an E! News post about Taylor’s divorce response.
Lance Bass, who officiated Taylor and Cartwright’s Kentucky wedding, also weighed in.
“Pastor Lance signed the papers,” the NSYNC alum, 45, commented.
While Taylor may have been in over his head filing divorce paperwork, his and Cartwright’s split is far from Kaplan’s first rodeo. The attorney has represented stars including Charlie Sheen, Paula Abdul and, of course, Federline, as the DJ navigated his custody battle with ex-wife Britney Spears and ironed out their child support agreement. Federline was awarded full custody of his and Spears’ two sons — Preston, now 19, and Jayden, now 18 — in 2008.
Thus far, Cartwright and Taylor’s custody arrangement seems less contentious than Federline’s and Spears’ as the pair have expressed their intention to coparent.
“I’m not ever going to take Cruz away from [Jax],” Cartwright told People in September. “We will always put Cruz first and we are going to work towards a healthy coparenting relationship.”
Taylor, meanwhile, said he will “always love and care” for Cartwright during a September episode of their “When Reality Hits” podcast.
“She’s the mother of my beautiful son. All I want for us is to be amicable and even, hopefully, really, really good friends. One day,” he said. “I know I’m an amazing father and I know that I will make an excellent ex-husband.”
“I’m not ever going to take Cruz away from [Jax],” Cartwright told People in September. “We will always put Cruz first and we are going to work towards a healthy coparenting relationship.”
Taylor, meanwhile, said he will “always love and care” for Cartwright during a September episode of their “When Reality Hits” podcast.
“She’s the mother of my beautiful son. All I want for us is to be amicable and even, hopefully, really, really good friends. One day,” he said. “I know I’m an amazing father and I know that I will make an excellent ex-husband.”
