DONALD Trump Jr and his estranged wife Vanessa looked solemn as they arrived a courthouse in New York City for a hearing in their divorce case.

Vanessa Trump filed for divorce in March from the businessman, who is the president’s eldest son.

After the hearing, they issued a joint statement saying they will “always have tremendous respect for each other.”

Judge Michael Katz praised the two, who were married for 12 years, for hammering out custody agreements over their five kids ahead of time, however said “those good intentions need to be put in writing.”

“I very much would like to commend both of you for working out whatever differences you may have had regarding those issues and committing to co-parenting with each other,” Mr Katz said. “You have prioritised your children and taken steps to shield them from what could have been an invasive litigation process. Not everyone is able to do that.”

The Trumps’ lawyers said certain financial decisions “have not yet been resolved” but that they would be resolved in the next few weeks.

The financial issue explains why the formerly “uncontested” divorce is now “contested.”

The 2007 birth of the couple’s first child made Donald Trump Sr a grandfather, a decade before he became the 45th President of the United States.

The Trumps were married in 2005 and have five children.

Mr Trump, 40, is now dating former Fox News Channel personality Kimberly Guilfoyle.

The television personality recently left the network and joined a pro-Trump political group amid the news that she’s dating the president’s son.

Guilfoyle and Mr Trump are now rumoured to be engaged after the former Fox News host shared a photo of the two of them on Instagram recently, with what appears to be a giant ring on her left hand.

Mr Trump’s divorce, initially listed as uncontested, is now contested, meaning the two parties cannot agree on the terms of the divorce.