Arnie refuses post-divorce support for Shriver (AFP)

LOS ANGELES (AFP) – Former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is refusing his estranged wife Maria Shriver's request for financial support after they divorce, documents showed Thursday.

The former bodybuilder and politician, who put his film comeback plans on hold after it emerged in May that he had fathered a child with the couple's former housekeeper, is also seeking joint custody of their children.

Shriver filed for divorce three weeks ago citing "irreconcilable differences" with her husband, whom she met in 1977 and married in 1986, and in her court documents requested spousal support.

In papers filed Wednesday by Schwarzenegger to the Los Angeles Superior Court, his lawyer Bob Kaufman did not cross either of the boxes indicating spousal support, and checked another seeking to make the court unable to award support.

The documents, published celebrity website TMZ, showed that the former governor agreed the former couple should have joint custody of their two minor children, 17-year-old Patrick and 13-year-old Christopher.

Shriver and Schwarzenegger have two other children: Katherine, 21, and Christina, 19.

Schwarzenegger, 63, admitted in May that he had fathered a child with the family's long-time housekeeper, Mildred Baena, and announced the couple's separation.

The Austrian-born former bodybuilder, a liberal Republican, had left office in January, and started to return to show business, with plans for a "Governator" comic book and animated TV show.

But he put his comeback on hold in May, telling his agents that "all his motion picture projects currently underway or being negotiated (should) stop planning until further notice."

Schwarzenegger and Shriver's marriage came under the spotlight over the years, notably amid reports of his history of groping women during campaigning for the 2003 recall election that Schwarzenegger won, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Shriver, a former TV journalist, defended him at the time, and stood by his side during his seven years at the helm of the Golden State, a term that ended when Jerry Brown succeeded him at the start of this year.

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