LOS ANGELES (AP) — Only time will tell if the quick divorce settlement reached between Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise lasts longer than their five-year marriage.

It will need to, since the agreement will guide how the actors raise their 6-year-old daughter Suri for years to come. Yet major disputes could put the pair back in lawyers' offices and force them to enter a place they have successfully avoided so far — a courtroom.

The surprise announcement Monday that Holmes and Cruise had settled their divorce in less than two weeks ended what many expected to be a contentious breakup spanning both coasts.