Back home. Kelly Clarkson‘s ranch in Montana is hers again after her divorce from Brandon Blackstock. Kelly filed for divorce from Brandon, her former manager, in June 2020 after seven years of marriage. The former couple share two kids: son Remington Alexander, 5, and daughter River Rose, 7.

Since their divorce, Brandon has been living at his and Clarkson’s former home in Montana, which she purchased for $10.4 million at an auction in 2019. In April, Kelly asked the court to sell the Montana ranch, which she called a “financial burden” due to the $81,000 per month it costs to maintain. A judge denied the request at the time and instead ordered Brandon to start paying a monthly rent since he was the only person living at the property. To continue living at the ranch, Brandon claimed that the house was “marital property” and that any income the former couple earned during their marriage should be split between them.

That changed on Friday, October 1, when a judge in Los Angeles ruled that the home is protected by the former couple’s prenup and belongs to Kelly since she purchased it with her own money. According to legal documents obtained by People, the court found after virtual hearings in June and July that the Montana ranch, as well as two other properties in the state “acquired during the marriage … are subject to the terms of the Premarital Agreement.”

“The Court further finds that the Montana Ranch and the other two Montana properties are not titled in both of the Parties’ names either as joint tenants with right of survivorship or as tenants by the entireties, as required under the PMA to create marital property,” the documents state. “The Court therefore rejects Respondent’s [Blackstock’s] position that the Montana Ranch and other Montana properties are marital property owned 50/50 by the Parties.”

Kelly and Brandon were declared legally single in August, more than a year after she filed for divorce. In July, a judge ordered Kelly to pay Blackston $200,000 per month in spousal and child support. Court documents break down the settlement into $150,000 per month in spousal support and $45,601 per month in child support to “benefit” their two children. According to People, Blackstock had requested $436,000 per month. In August, a source told Us Weekly that Kelly and Brandon’s divorce was “long time” coming and that a lot of their issues were due to his jealousy over her success and income. 

The insider continued, “The relationship had been on the rocks for a long time. She was the high-income earner with a wildly successful talk show, and is the star of another hit show The Voice. Brandon was extremely jealous of it and made her know it.”

According to court documents obtained by Us Weekly, Clarkson earns $1.9 million per month from her job as the host of The Kelly Clarkson Show and as a judge on The Voice. Us Weekly’s source also told the magazine that the American Idol alum worried “that Brandon was just using her for her money and lifestyle” before their split. “The marriage was really, really awful at the end. Kelly felt that she could no longer trust Brandon. She had a lot of questions that he just couldn’t answer,” the insider continued. “She just wasn’t willing to look the other way anymore.” The source also noted that there was “tremendous resentment” between Clarkson and Blackstock toward the end of their marriage.

After “so much tension in the family home” she shared with Blackstock, Clarkson has since bought a $5.4 million house in Toluca Lake, California. “Buying a new house for the kids was also a new beginning for Kelly,” the insider said. “It was freedom.”