Kim Kardashian is being held ''hostage'' by her estranged husband Kris Humphries.

The 32-year-old reality star - who is expecting her first child with boyfriend Kanye West - is reportedly being held captive in her marriage to the basketball player while he tries to hold up their divorce proceedings in any way he can, Kim's lawyer Laura Wesser has argued.

E! Online reports Ms Wesser states in the court papers that Kris ''cannot continue to hold the court and [Kim] hostage through his own lack of diligence in preparing his case for trial.''

Kim wants to end things with Kris - who she was married to for 72 days and split from in October 2011 - before she gives birth to her baby in order to have a new ''full life'' with her new family.

She recently said: ''I do not want to be married to [Kris] when I have my baby... I am requesting the status of my marriage be determined now for not only my health and welfare but also for the health and wellbeing of my unborn child.

''I firmly believe that an immediate dissolution of our marriage will help create a new, full life for me. One chapter will be officially over, and a new one can begin. The same should hold true for [Kris].''

The sports star is keen to have his marriage annulled on the grounds of fraud, insisting Kim only married him for publicity on her show 'Keeping Up With the Kardashians', but was advised against the decision by his former attorney Marshall Weller.

However, Mr Waller has since quit the trial and Kris has hired out-of-state lawyer Lee Hutton to help on the case, but will need another Californian representative on board.