It's War: Kelly Clarkson's Move to NYC May Increase Her Spousal and Child Support Payments to Ex Brandon Blackstock

Though Kelly Clarkson believes her recent move to New York City will help her thrive in her personal and professional life, it's also possible that the relocation will force the star to make heftier payments to ex-husband Brandon Blackstock.

"Brandon lives in Montana, which when Kelly lived in L.A., wasn't too bad of a flight for the kids to visit with their dad," an insider told Radar of 9-year-old River Rose and 7-year-old Remington Alexander's travels. "But New York City is a lot farther away."

The American Idol alum, 41, currently pays the music manager $150,000 in spousal support and $45,000 in child support each month, but now, Brandon, 46, "can demand Kelly pay for his flights to New York to see" their kids. She may also have to put down her credit card if he chooses to stay in a hotel.

"It's the kind of case that's been argued successfully for divorced parents," the source noted. "Kelly doesn't want to dole out another dime to Brandon, but she may have to in order to avoid another nasty court battle."

The exes, who married in 2013, separated in 2020, but their split wasn't finalized until last year due to arguments over several assets, such as their properties.

It was just a few months ago that the mom-of-two opened up on relocating her talk show to the Big Apple, something she first brought up to the series' staff in January 2023.

"It’s either I’m not going to be able to continue the show or I gotta go East Coast. Covid, pointed out [that] being isolated and so far from your family… that’s not good for anyone," she explained in an interview of what she told them. "And my family is East Coast, they’re North Carolina based. So it was one of those things where I just had to… and also there was a lot of personal things going on, too."

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"It was really cool that NBC backed me because I was like, ‘Y’all, I love doing this show. I really do. I didn’t even know I would but I gotta make a change for me and my family. Any chance we could do this? I know we can’t do this from my ranch so any chance we could do it in New York [because] it’s at least closer to my family.’ That was really the main reason," concluded Clarkson.