Kelly Clarkson Requests to Be Legally Divorced from Estranged Husband Brandon Blackstock

Kelly Clarkson has requested a judge to declare her legally divorced from ex-husband Brandon Blackstock.

Legal documents filed by the singer's attorney in Los Angeles court on Thursday and obtained by PEOPLE appeal for a judge to officially sign off on her divorce, leaving other arrangements such as spousal and child support for a later date.

In a declaration to the court, Clarkson reasoned that she and Blackstock "both deserve the opportunity to build a new life."

Clarkson, 38, filed for divorce in June 2020 after seven years of marriage. The divorce proceedings are ongoing.

In November, an L.A. County judge granted Clarkson primary physical custody of their children River Rose, 7, and Remington Alexander, 5.

A source close to the family told PEOPLE at the time that Clarkson is "pleased" by the custody ruling and that her priority is to protect her children.

"As Kelly has said, her first priority in all of this is to take care of the kids and all the hearts that are involved in this divorce," a second source said. "It's been a hard time for everyone, but Kelly's pleased with the court's ruling regarding custody."

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"Divorce is hard and it gets tense for most couples going through it. But Kelly's primary focus is on doing the best she can to protect the kids," the source added. "In this case, she had to fight for them since Brandon and his attorneys were making unreasonable requests."

Blackstock, 43, is also seeking $436,000 in monthly spousal and child support. If the music producer's request remains, he'd receive more than $5.2 million per year.

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In February, Clarkson opened up about her ability to use music as a coping mechanism amid the split.

"I have written like, 60 songs," she told Entertainment Tonight. "It is an insane amount of getting it out."

"I think that's a blessing in itself," she went on. "Anytime you go through some life, it's such an awesome thing to have that outlet, regardless of whether people hear it or not."

She later added, "I don't know how anybody, I'll just be real with you, goes through grief like divorce, any kind of grief, any kind of loss, without having an outlet like this."