Katie Holmes set the wheels in motion for her divorce from Tom Cruise using a throwaway cellphone provided by a friend to initially talk to her lawyers and avoid her husband knowing about the conversations, according to a source familiar with the divorce. 
 
 The move allowed her to prepare her legal case without Cruise and his staff knowing she was about to exit the marriage and left him shocked at the sudden divorce. By the time a deal was struck last weekend to end the marriage, she hired three law firms in three states. 
 
 Holmes will now have primary custody of her 6-year-old daughter, Suri, with Cruise in a quick, behind-closed-doors divorce settlement. But the "Mission: Impossible" star will still have a "meaningful relationship" with his child. 
 
 PHOTOS: Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes through the years 
 
 The agreement provides Cruise with visitation rights but gives Holmes the lead role in choosing how Suri will be educated, a source said Monday. 
 
 With a prenuptial agreement governing the distribution of assets, talks between lawyers for Cruise, a prominent member of the Church of Scientology, and Holmes, who was raised Roman Catholic, centered on the role of Scientology in the upbringing of Suri, according to a source familiar with the negotiations but not authorized to discuss them publicly. 
 
 Holmes wanted guarantees in the settlement to ensure nothing is done while their daughter is with Cruise that would "alienate" Suri from her, the sources said. ||||| By Radar Staff 
 
 Katie Holmes orchestrated her escape from Tom Cruise and Scientology with surgical precision, and RadarOnline.com has all the details on the bold move that has dropped Hollywood’s collective jaw. 
 
 “Frankly Katie escaped,” a source told Us magazine, who reported the Dawson’s Creek star put her name on a New York apartment in mid-June with the split in mind. “She felt she had to get out to save her daughter.” 
 
 Katie’s slow-moving severance from all things TomKat was likely brewing much sooner, as she had stopped going to three-times-a-week Scientology classes more than 18 months ago; distanced herself from Cruise’s sister Lee Anne DeVette; and RadarOnline.com confirmed she fired her team of (mostly-Scientologist) employees — “so she wouldn’t be spied on,” a source told the magazine — in recent weeks. 
 
 PHOTOS: Tom Cruise & Suri Enjoy The Day At Disney 
 
 One sticking point of the doomed marriage, Us reported, was that Katie didn’t get along with Tom’s daughter Isabella; and believed thought Tom should make his 17-year-old son Connor “focus on school, and not allow him to pursue a DJ career.” 
 
 Another source told RadarOnline.com parenting differences regarding Suri fueled Katie’s motives to break loose from the star of Top Gun. 
 
 “Katie and Tom also have very different parenting views,” the source said. “Katie wants Suri to go to school with other children and have a grounded routine whereas Tom doesn’t, he wants her schooled in the same manner as Connor and Isabella were. Tom is nowhere near as strict as Katie is and doesn’t believe in disciplining Suri, whereas Katie believes that is important. 
 
 “Tom basically treats Suri as a little adult, however Katie treats her like a 6-year-old child, and that causes some major clashes over parenting style.” 
 
 Holmes filed for divorce last Thursday in New York, citing “irreconcilable differences.” She’s seeking sole custody of Suri. 
 
 Cruise — who’s currently shooting a movie in Iceland — has yet to file a response. 
 
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 The Calm Before The Storm: Tom Cruise & Katie Holmes Kept Low Profile Prior To Split ||||| Katie Holmes Seems "Like She's Been Set Free" Post Split 
 
 Friday's news that Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise were divorcing after five years of marriage came as a shock to some, but a source tells Us Weekly that the signs have been there. 
 
 One telltale sign was Holmes' increasingly happier demeanor. "She's been miserable for a long time, but the last couple of weeks, she's been happy -- like she's been set free," the source tells Us. 
 
 PHOTOS: Tom and Katie, the way they were 
 
 Indeed, just one week ago, the 33-year-old actress and the couple's 6-year-old daughter, Suri, enjoyed a day out in NYC on June 24. The smiling mommy-daughter duo sported coordinating black-and-white ensembles and stopped at their favorite spots Serendipity 3 and the American Girl Store. 
 
 "I was wondering what changed with her," the source adds. "I guess she can finally be happy again." 
 
 VIDEO: What went wrong for Tom and Katie 
 
 With Cruise, 49, away filming the sci-fi flick Oblivion in Iceland, Holmes quietly filed divorce papers with the aid of a New Jersey-based attorney, and requested sole custody of the couple's daughter. To ensure that Suri would have a stable home base, the actress had secretly rented an NYC apartment of her own just prior to filing for divorce, Us learned exclusively on Friday. 
 
 PHOTOS: Suri's life with dad Tom 
 
 "Katie's primary concern remains, as it always has been, her daughter's best interest. This is a personal and private matter for Katie and her family," Holmes' lawyer, Jonathan Wolfe, said in a statement to Us Friday. 
 
 Through his rep, Cruise said he was "deeply saddened" to hear of Holmes' divorce filing. ||||| Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes Reach Divorce Settlement 
 
 Tom & Katie's 1st Year of Marriage 
 
 Less than two weeks after Katie Holmes filed for divorce, the actress and Tom Cruise have reached a settlement.Holmes's attorney Jonathan Wolfe confirmed the deal in a statement to PEOPLE:"The case has been settled and the agreement has been signed. We are thrilled for Katie and her family and are excited to watch as she embarks on the next chapter of her life."This result could not have been achieved without the hard work of my partner Gary Skoloff and our co-counsel Allan Mayefsky, Michael Mosberg and Larry Trachtenberg of Aronson Mayefsky and Sloan and Peter Walzer and Chris Melcher of Walzer & Melcher in California."We thank Tom's counsel for their professionalism and diligence that helped bring about this speedy resolution."Cruise's attorney Dennis Wasser separately told PEOPLE, "All the lawyers and the parties are happy that it's done, the deal was closed and we wish everyone well."There was no immediate word on the details, but Holmes and Cruise said in a separate statement they focused on protecting daughter Suri, 6."We are committed to working together as parents to accomplish what is in our daughter Suri's best interests. We want to keep matters affecting our family private and express our respect for each other's commitment to each of our respective beliefs and support each other's roles as parents," says the statement from Holmes and Cruise's reps, Nanci Ryder and Amanda Lundberg respectively.Sources close to both sides say that Cruise, 50, and Holmes, 33, were working on an arrangement in which Suri lives in New York with her mother and her father is given generous visitation rights.Sources say Holmes's decision to file for divorce in June stunned Cruise.She and Suri recently moved into a new 3-bedroom apartment in New York City, where the pair have been spotted out while Cruise was at home in Los Angeles with his teenage kids, Connor, 17, and Bella, 19.
– And, just as suddenly as it was thrust upon us, the Tom Cruise-Katie Holmes divorce is settled—so there go any hopes you may have had for a long, contentious custody battle. "This case has been settled and the agreement has been signed. We are thrilled for Katie and her family and are excited to watch as she embarks on the next chapter of her life," Holmes' lawyer tells TMZ. Holmes will have primary custody of daughter Suri, notes the LA Times, and both will have input on her religious upbringing. Earlier today, the former couple had released a joint statement obtained by People: "We are committed to working together as parents to accomplish what is in our daughter Suri's best interests. We want to keep matters affecting our family private and express our respect for each other's commitment to each of our respective beliefs and support each other's roles as parents." In a similarly "wow-that-was-fast" move, the Huffington Post reports that Holmes has already officially returned to the Catholic Church. Click for the latest, juicier rumors, including one about Tom's fondness for G-strings.