Kate Beckinsale is a British actress and Oxford University Graduate. She began her career in the UK with roles on British television. She came to the United States in the 1990s and appeared in minor roles in movies. Later, she became known as an “action actress” for her roles in the action films Van Helsing (2004), Whiteout (2009), Contraband (2012), and Total Recall (2012).
Len Wiseman is an American film director, screenwriter and producer. Among his accomplishments are the Underworld Series, Live Free or Die Hard, and Total Recall. Wiseman met Beckinsale on the set of 2003 release of Underworld. They married in Los Angeles, California in 2004. They separated in 2015, and their divorce became final in November of 2019.
According to TMZ, “…[t]he couple had no kids together, so all that was left after the marriage disintegrated was dividing property. Our sources say there was no prenup. Kate had asked in her divorce docs, filed by disso queen Laura Wasser, to keep her jewelry and personal effects. She also wanted to keep her earnings after the date of separation. In the divorce docs, both Kate and Len waived any right to spousal support.”
Ron Perlman is a 69-year-old American actor and voice actor. He became famous in the 1980s in the television series Beauty and the Beast, and in 2008, he starred in Sons of Anarchy. He is a successful film actor as well for his parts in the Hellboy series and numerous famous movies.
In 1981, Perlman married jewelry designer Opal Stone Perlman, and they had two children together. The children are now adults. According to TMZ, in November of 2919, Perlman petitioned for divorce from Opal in Los Angeles court. The couple had been married for 38 years.
Both the Beckinsale-Wiseman and Perlman-Stone marriages were considered long-term marriages under California law.
California’s Family Code Section 4336 defines a long-term marriage as follows:
(a) Except on written agreement of the parties to the contrary or a court order terminating spousal support, the court retains jurisdiction indefinitely in a proceeding for dissolution of marriage or for legal separation of the parties where the marriage is of long duration.
(b) For the purpose of retaining jurisdiction, there is a presumption affecting the burden of producing evidence that a marriage of 10 years or more, from the date of marriage to the date of separation, is a marriage of long duration. However, the court may consider periods of separation during the marriage in determining whether the marriage is in fact of long duration. Nothing in this subdivision precludes a court from determining that a marriage of less than 10 years is a marriage of long duration.
(c) Nothing in this section limits the court's discretion to terminate spousal support in later proceedings on a showing of changed circumstances.
Note, that the code provides a presumption that 10 years of marriage is considered long-term, however, the court may determine that a marriage of less than 10 years is long-term
Also note, that just because a marriage is of long term if the parties agree to forego spousal support, no spousal support will be granted. However, if a long-term marriage exists, and a party requests spousal support from the other, the court may grant the support and may allow modifications to the support based on the circumstances of the parties. In a short-term marriage, support may be granted, but it will be for a specific period of time, and then it ends without possibility of renewal.