Apparently, K-Fed, Britney Spears' ex, is a generous tipper.

According to attorneys for Spears, if Kevin Federline can tip a waitress $2,000, he can afford to pay his own legal bills. And boy are those bills mounting: K-Fed is looking at a $405,000 legal tab that he thinks his ex should pay.

Spears' new attorney Stacy Phillips told a court commissioner that Federline should pay between $150,000 and $175,000. She alleges that K-Fed omitted his $200,000 spousal-support checks from his earning declarations. Phillips also alleges that Federline recently tipped a waitress $2,000 on a $365 bill, and spent $20,000 on jewelry, phone calls and food while listing the charges as "business expenses."

Naturally, K-Fed's attorney says Spears should keep writing the checks. Spears' old law firm Trope and Trope reportedly charged her $630,000 for four months' work, while Federline's portion of the bill from his attorney was about $250,000 less.

These legal fees are mind-blowing but when you consider that attorneys, all kinds, routinely make $500 an hour, not including the hefty retainers they receive at the get-go....well, it's not unfathomable to see how quickly celebrity divorce cases hit the million dollar mark.

We're waiting to see what happens in the Mills/McCartney ruling, supposedly scheduled for March 17. And now, we're waiting with bated breath for the Spitzers to split; the New York Governor, in case you haven't heard, was caught up in a prostitution ring. Eliot Spitzer comes from a wealthy family but it's Silda who earned the big bucks as a high-powered corporate attorney. We'll wait and see...

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Britney Spears' visitation rights were reinstated on Friday after her ex-husband Kevin Federline agreed to a modification in a court order. The troubled pop star will get to see her kids Sean Preston and Jayden James (we don't know when) after two stints at psychiatric facilities and several court appearances.

K-Fed has sole physical and legal custody of the boys; Britney's visitation rights were suspended on January 4 after her first hospitalization.

No matter the situation — and it's unclear exactly what her condition is (published reports say it's everything from bi-polar disorder to manic depression to obsessive compulsive disorder) — Britney will likely feel better when she sees her children. And the kids? At the tender ages of 2 and 1, respectively, these kids need their mother's presence in their lives. Is their mother troubled? To be sure. But childhood memories and emotional/physical bonds form very early. Attachment and abandonment issues come to the fore very quickly even in infancy.

I sure hope Britney, who seemingly has all the resources (both financial and familial) in the world, gets the help and treatment she needs to improve her mental and physical well-being. Even if she goes back to the business of being Britney/mega pop star, she'll never be whole if her kids are out of her life for long.

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Heather Mills, the ex-wife of former Beatle Paul McCartney, is just a little richer today, having scored a $108 million dollar settlement after a week-long battle in a British court.

The Daily Mail newspaper also reports that Mills will receive a lump sum of $40 million with another $5 million a year after the couple's daughter Beatrice, 4, turns 18.

The newspaper reports that the whopper settlement represents just a fraction of McCartney's fortune.

Originally, Mills asked for up to $160 million.

The Mills/McCartney nasty divorce began in May 2006; Mills is the primary caretaker of the couple's daughter but both parents have equal visitation.

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And that's more often the case these days. U.S. census data revealed earlier this week that more than half the Americans who might have made it to their 25th wedding anniversaries since 2000 got divorced, separated or widowed before reaching that benchmark. The data reveals that for the first time since World War II, couples who got hitched in the late 1970s had a less-than-even chance of remaining married 25 years later.

You've heard of the seven-year itch, the restlessness that occurs in a marriage after seven years —allegedly — and if not, the brilliant movie starring Marilyn Monroe. These days, some experts think the seven-year itch is happening even earlier, say around three years. People start getting bored, they're looking for an adrenaline boost — a little romance and excitement — the kind you can get from a new partner.

First Wives World's Debbie Nigro commented on the new census data and trends in a piece today on the "CBS Early Show." Debbie noted that one of the problems is that for some people, "commitment" doesn't mean "commitment" any longer, or doesn't mean "commitment" to a single person for life. "It's ‘commitment' until I say it isn't." Marriage, Debbie told the "Early Show," is a "work in progress." To be sure, it is a relationship that requires understanding, empathy and a commitment to working on it throughout your life.

The piece suggests immediately calling credit reporting agencies like Equifax if your ex used your name and Social Security number to obtain credit without your knowledge. Close unauthorized accounts and all joint credit card and other acounts, file a fraud report with the police and alert all credit reporting agencies to place a fraud alert on your account.

If your ex is using credit cards you previously owned as a couple, then you are still liable for any charges that surface. Ouch! In states with community property laws, all accounts opened during a marriage are considered joint, regardless of whose name is on them. But you can still file a report disputing the charges with the credit reporting agencies. Have any of you been through this ordeal?

Keep in mind that divorcing couples who negotiate divorce decrees that include that one ex-spouse will pay off the credit card debt aren't excused from the other ex's financial responsibility. Ouch! Creditors can still demand payment from the "clean" spouse which can negatively impact their credit score.

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A second round of "friend of the court" briefs in Rhode Island's first same-sex divorce case was submitted to the state's Supreme Court last week. The Providence Journal reports that the case, between two women married in Massachusetts in 2004, has stalled while the state's highest court considers whether Rhode Island Family Court can dissolve a marriage between a same-sex couple.

"When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean -- neither more nor less," claims Humpty Dumpty, quoted in a brief from the Family Research Council. The conservative group went on to argue that allowing "the ‘Humpty Dumpty' approach" would lead to marriages with animals and the dead. A brief filed by the Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders noted the Massachusetts-certified Certificate of Marriage included in the court record and described the FRC's brief as "Alice in Wonderland" logic.

First Wives World reported earlier this month on briefs filed by the state's governor and attorney general, arguing that the state has the authority to grant the women a divorce. A third round of briefs is due August 31, and the bizarre tale will likely continue long past oral arguments before the Supreme Court, scheduled for October 9.

Shanti Chandrasekhar spoke to Parade Magazine this week about the process she went through to take back her rather unusual last name. Originally from India, Shanti recounts her struggle to regain her maiden Indian name, and the identity it represents. In an ironic twist, her difficulty occurs on the phone with an Indian call center employee forced to adopt an American identity and name. Our own Rachel Small wrote recently on the process for regaining your maiden name after the divorce is final.

Though many women find it too much trouble to change, many women find the return to their maiden name liberating. First Wives World's bloggers have plenty to say on just what is in a name: Michelle Rosenthal shares her triumph at regaining the her maiden name and the identity it represents, while Debbie Nigro emphasizes the diverse options and the alternate freedom she has found with a hyphen.

Share your thoughts on naming in our reader poll, and check back regularly to connect, share and inspire here at First Wives World.

You've probably heard of him or seen him appear on cable news shows talking about the latest celebrity divorce and high-profile settlements. The guy sure gets around. Raoul Felder, that is. He's a divorce czar and a bull-dog you'd want on your side. A big-shot divorce attorney who's represented everyone from Rudy Giuliani to Robin Givens (boxer Mike Tyson’s ex-wife) and Ms. Carol Channing.

Felder chats it up with Time Out New York about a new book he wrote, gay marriage, chairing the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct and weddings. Asked whether New Yorkers fight more over real estate or kids, he states: "There’s more real estate to fight over." Go figure.

At First Wives World, we have a voracious appetite for trends and observations that will help support the 40 million women who are going through a divorce. In fact, we're so eager to uncover new insights and findings that we poll our readers regularly to find out what they're thinking.

We wanted to know whether most women who are transitioning through divorce tend to keep their married name. Surprisingly, 54% of the women we polled did keep their married name--29% said they kept it for the sake of the kids and 25% because the process of changing names seemed too difficult. However, 46% of the women we polled went back to their old name--their original, "maiden" name!

One of our bloggers, Michelle Rosenthal, has discussed the name-change game recently. And Rachel Small has weighed in on how to re-establish your name legally.

Bert, 59, and Jean, 54, hopefully have joined up for the last time. They have five kids and 26 grandchildren. So what made their relationship so on-again, off-again? It sounds like the typical rows and arguments couples have during marriage provoked each to file divorce papers on at least two occasions during their relationship.

"We have been on a bit of a merry-go round, but I think overall we have had a jolly good time of it," says Bert, in London's Daily Mail newspaper. "We have just had our ups and downs just like other marital couples but the fact is we are made for each other and this marriage is for keeps."

Aw...that's sweet. If only all splits ended up like this: Not splits at all.

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