Kris Humphries is to request his 72-day marriage to Kim Kardashian be annulled by a judge.

The basketball star is reportedly planning to hit back at the reality star's requests to call their union quits with a petition to seek a legal separation instead of a divorce, according to sources speaking to People magazine.

While the 26-year-old sportsman had originally agreed to sign the divorce papers when Kim flew out to Minnesota for crisis talks about their relationship, Kris' father now claims he was "blindsided" by the legal action.

William Humphries said: "There was never a discussion about it - it just came out of nowhere and blindsided Kris.

"How could someone do that? Kris was completely surprised. The news was already published before he found out. Kris is hurting, but we're here for him. It's not a nice situation."

Despite the union only lasting 72 days, Kim recently admitted she was at the "best time of her life" after she married Kris.

In an interview conducted prior to the marriage, she explained: "I feel like where we're at right now is the best time in my life. We have a lot of trust, and I don't think either of us would do anything to break that. It makes life so easy."