House and Home - Experts and Resources

New Book Urges Wannabe Brides to Settle

Look what happened to Jenny Sanford for following that advice

Posted to Relevant News by Jill Brooke on Mon, 02/08/2010 - 8:47pm

In an ironic twist, Jenny Sanford and Lori Gottlieb are hitting the bookstores at the same time. In Marry Him - The Case For Mr. Good Enough, Gottlieb says women should be less picky and settle, and now Sanford will be on the same talk shows discussing the consequences when you do.

Sanford's book is called Staying True, written because her husband wasn't True Blue. Of all her revelations, one sticks out in my mind. Jenny Sanford acknowledged that she was never in love with Mark Sanford when they got married. "It wasn't exactly love at first sight," she said. "It was more like friendship after first sight."

The former investment banker from Lezard Freres calculated that investing in a resume instead of a person would reap rewards. She did get to be the First Lady of South Carolina. But she didn't get to be the First Lady of his heart.

They produced successful campaigns as well as four adorable sons. It wasn't enough. It rarely is when love isn't the driving force in the relationship.

German Woman Divorces Husband for Being a Neat Freak

Posted to Relevant News by Justin Marshall on Mon, 04/06/2009 - 7:31pm

The notion of a husband who loves to clean, fold laundry, and do other daily chores is such a turn-on that it inspired a picture book, Porn for Women. But men beware — before you run off to buy a Swiffer and a gallon of Lysol in the hopes of wooing your wife to bed (or bath, or beyond), know that there’s a fine line between squeaky clean and psycho sterile.

This week, a German man learned this lesson the hard way when his wife divorced him for his obsessive cleanliness. She was apparently able to tolerate his overly zealous behavior (constantly tidying up and rearranging furniture) for 15 years, but felt he had finally crossed the line when he decided to deal with a dirty wall the hard way: by knocking it down and rebuilding it.

Housing Crisis Complicates Debbie Matenopoulos Divorce

Posted to Relevant News by Jill Brooke on Wed, 01/28/2009 - 9:22am

Marital homes are not only assets but increasingly sources of dueling divorce battles. And here's a doozy that was reported in People.

Debbie Matenopoulos's estranged husband says their marital house is now only worth $4.3 million and not $8 million, and she better sell or he'll stop supporting the Los Angeles' home's upkeep.

In court documents, Jay Faires, 45, an L.A. music executive who makes $37,500 per month before taxes, is demanding that the E! Entertainment host, 33, either help pay the mortgage, agree to refinance, or move out and sell the home, according to his filing.

Furthermore, pulling the rug from under her, he says they both lived beyond their means and she had better adapt to a new reality.

He also says he's floored by all the expenses that he has to pay compare to her.

2008: The Year in Divorce

Posted to Relevant News by First Wives World on Thu, 12/25/2008 - 12:34am

The splits. The fits. The emotional pits. And all the couples who called it quits.

This past year had it all. Some stories touched us, others moved us, many angered us, and a few even tickled us.

After much culling and sifting, we narrowed it down to 20 of our top picks from 2008. We hope you enjoy this little look back as we prepare to move forward.

The Let’s-Just-Be-Friends Award
(Most Amicable Divorce)
Robin Williams and Marsha Garces Williams

Talk about civil unions. No sooner had the couple announced their split after 19 years of marriage than they signed an official agreement stating "we commit ourselves to the collaborative divorce process and agree to seek a positive way to resolve our differences justly and equitably” — all for the sake of their two children. For those of you playing along at home, this is the way to go.

Man Splits with Wife, then Splits House in Two

Posted to Relevant News by Jill Brooke on Thu, 10/02/2008 - 10:28am

Here's what happens when a divisive couple deals with a housing slump. A Cambodian couple resorted to a drastic solution to combat the country's notoriously corrupt and expensive court system by literally — and we mean literally — cutting their house in half.

According to the Khmer-language "Koh Santepheap" newspaper, Meuon Rima sought a divorce from his wife, Nhang, both 40, because she refused to nurse him during a recent illness. They decided to split their house, which was built on stilts, rather than deal with what they considered a diseased court system.

Rima sawed the house down the middle with "surgical precision," the newspaper reported. He was last seen driving away from the village in southeastern Prey Veng province hauling half of the home with him.

It was not known where he had gone with his very detached piece of marital assets, it said. And apparently Rima had not felt the same need to divvy up the couple's two teenage children, both of whom were left with Nhang.

One would argue that the heart of the home is the family, so in that sense he left the home mostly intact.

Hogan's Divorce: Hulk Muscles His Way Out of Condo

Posted to Relevant News by Jill Brooke on Mon, 08/18/2008 - 11:10pm

Hulk Hogan's wrestling days may be behind him, but as E! News so aptly stated, he can still avoid being pinned.

Judge George W. Greer of Florida released the pro wrestler from a commitment to purchase a $4.2 million Las Vegas condo, a property he agreed to buy with estranged wife Linda Bollea back in 2005.

The commitment on the condo, in a sinking Las Vegas real estate market, has been a sticking point in their ongoing legal dealings, with Bollea just last month seeking to get her ex held in contempt of court and jailed for failing to pony up his share of the condo’s purchase price.

Her Miami lawyer, A.J. Barranco, Jr., said that the condo would be a good investment, even if other condo values have gone down, because Linda Bollea believes that their properties sell at a premium.

And if they walk away from the condo, they stand to lose much of their $840,000 down payment.

For Bollea and Hogan, divorce has become a spectator sport, and an example of what not to do. Some observers believe that it will be more than a year before the divorce is final. The divorce was started in 2007.

Divorce Ruining the Environment?

Posted to Relevant News by Maureen Dempsey on Tue, 08/12/2008 - 7:08am

The Australian posted a recent article on the impact of divorce on the environment. The claim? That the results of divorce — multiple homes, cars, energy use — is eating way at the earth's resources. One can't argue with that, especially as a new report by the Australia's Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts released the following numbers:

"A four-person family that breaks up will generate around 43 percent more garbage than they did when they were together. They will use up to 34 percent more water and up to 70 percent more energy, depending on the type of new dwellings being occupied."

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