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What can we learn from celebrity break-ups, billionaire settlements, straying husbands, downright daunting divorce laws, or scandalous politicians? PLENTY! Meet our contributing writers and professional advisors who are tickled pink to ponder all of the news, views, gossip and buzz that we love to hear!

JulieSavard's picture

Having Sex? No Divorce for You

Posted by Julie Savard on Thu, 05/15/2008 - 1:46pm

Now here's something smart: If a man keeps on having sex with his wife, he can't get a divorce.

So says Additional District Judge (ADJ) Atul Kumar Garg of New Delhi, India, in a recent ruling after a man sought separation from his wife for cruelty (she refused to carry out household chores) and misdemeanor.

I'm right behind the judge on this one.

We often hear of a man or woman complaining about their spouse, yet the fun in the bedroom still seems to be going on. If two people truly can't get along in a relationship, one would assume that there's no need to continue the affairs between the sheets.

Garg agrees. "Continuous cohabitation with the wife shall amount to condonation of the act of cruelty complained of and condonation in matrimonial cases means complete forgiveness of the act,"stated ADJ Garg when he laid down his ruling.

The act of divorce should be representative about two people who have no love or desire to live with each other. They shouldn't get along. They shouldn't be sharing intimate moments. It just doesn't make sense.

Jasbir Singh is the plaintiff requesting the divorce, and this is his second attempt to have the divorce approved by a court of law. He'd requested a divorce previously in 2003 — that didn't work, but obviously the relations between Singh and his spouse still did.

Now, five years later, Singh has had his divorce petition turned down again. Shall we all stay tuned for round three?

Perhaps the next time he seeks official separation, Singh will put chances on his side and stay away from temptation. It might help his credibility a touch.

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Maureen Dempsey's picture

Sex... Scandal... Support?!

Posted by Maureen Dempsey on Wed, 04/02/2008 - 5:04pm

It's an image we've seen far too often lately: The supportive wife standing beside her man, doing her best to remain stoic while he reveals his extramarital blunders to the entire nation.

The media's response seems to follow a strict pattern. First, there is speculation ("Will Clinton be impeached?"), followed by the questions ("Who was McGreevy's lover?"), and finally, a healthy dose of political spin ("Senator Craig wasn't soliciting sex, he just needed some toilet paper").

Only after all the dust has finally settled does the media's eye turn to the most obvious victim: Yes, the supportive wife in the smart pantsuit, still standing beside her man.

So how does the media handle "the wife"? Much the same way it handled the husband — even though she wasn't the one cavorting around with interns and prostitutes (both male and female).

Take Silda Spitzer. Fox News speculated on whether she would leave her husband or not. The Washington Post questioned her choice to stand by Eliot's side during his announcement. By the time the spin came, Silda was all but forgotten - the "other woman" was discovered on myspace, and the whole cycle repeated itself again. Wash, rinse, repeat.

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Maureen Dempsey's picture

Robin Williams’ Wife Files for Divorce

Posted by Maureen Dempsey on Wed, 03/26/2008 - 2:50pm

Marsha Garces Williams has filed for divorce from her husband of 18 years, citing irreconcilable differences.

The two met while Marsha nannied Robin's son with his first wife, Valerie. She then served as his personal assistant...then, uh, wife. Seriously, though, Marsha partnered with her husband professionally on several projects, producing Mrs. Doubtfire, Patch Adams, and Jakob the Liar.

The two also forged a nonprofit arts foundation alongside individual philanthropic endeavors.

Just watching this guy makes me tired. Imagine trying to keep up with him? I wouldn't have made it 18 days, let alone 18 years.

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Faith Eggers's picture

"Gray Divorces" Replacing Silver Anniversaries

Posted by Faith Eggers on Tue, 03/25/2008 - 1:36pm

Researchers say that the divorce rate for people in their 50's, 60's, and even 70's are increasing at an almost rapid rate and are dubbing these divorces, the "gray divorce" — as opposed to the silver anniversary.

And just when you thought that once you got over that 30-years-of-marriage hurdle you were in the clear. I don't know, I'd still be pretty hard pressed to imagine my grandmother and grandfather calling it quits after so many years of putting up with each other. Why would they?

One researcher suggests that as our life expectancy increases, there are more years to think of "putting up" in an unhappy marriage.

Divorce and family law attorney Carol Lindsay suggests that as a person ages there is a "vague longing." "Mortality is calling," she says, and sometimes people will feel a sense that they've missed out on something and try to make it up.

She does note that these "gray divorces" are sometimes nicer, as older couples will sometimes show "more maturity" and be "graceful" in the way they handle their divorce. Also, rarely are there the gut-wrenching, bitter, custody battles that are so common when younger couples divorce.

So, it seems that we can say again, divorce can effect everyone, divorce doesn't discriminate. Click here for more.

The Ohio Supreme Court has suspended the license of Karl Williamson after discovering he was involved in a sexual relationship with his female client, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.

The client, whose name has been withheld, filed for divorce from her husband in 2004, and Williamson began serving as her lawyer in May of that year. Within a month, however, the client and her two children had moved in with Williamson—apparently not for the sole purpose of cutting down on legal costs.

"By engaging in an affair with his client and continuing to represent her, (Williamson) risked his client's legal and personal interests for his own advantage," the court said Thursday.

Maureen Dempsey's picture

McGreevey Divorce Twist

Posted by Maureen Dempsey on Mon, 03/17/2008 - 9:47am

The Star Ledger is reporting that a former aide to ex-governor says he repeatedly had sex with the McGreeveys.

Yes, that's plural "McGreeveys," as in a little three-way action with Jim and Dina. Whoops!

Twenty nine-year-old Theodore Pedersen says Mrs. McGreevey was more than aware of her husband's homosexuality and was in "complete control" of their three-way relationship.

Pedersen says the trysts started in 1999 but stopped when McGreevey was elected governor in 2001.

Three ways? Hmmmm...Would a governor-in-training and his wife be careless enough to engage in such come-back-to-haunt-you behavior?

Then again, we know another gov who (foolishly) thought his skeletons would remain safely locked in the closet.

If the McGreeveys did partake in a menage a trois with young Theodore, they had to have seen this coming.

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Naomi Dunne's picture

Shocker: Divorce Spikes In Egypt

Posted by Naomi Dunne on Sun, 03/16/2008 - 11:00am

Like everywhere else in the world, divorce rates are rising in Egypt. It's not too surprising, really — we've written before about the rising statistics of divorce in basically every country where it's legal. According to an article I recently read, though, the rate of divorce in Egypt isn't just up. It's way up.

It seems that almost 50 percent of couples are getting divorced. That's comparable to most of the Western world, but rare for an Islamic country. Here's the interesting part, though — these couples are getting divorced within the first four years of marriage, and one of the two leading causes is sexual frustration.

Islamic and sociological scholars are blaming the harsh rules on sexuality outside of marriage. Apparently, even kissing outside of marriage is condemned. While I'm sure that keeps their teen pregnancy rates down, it doesn't take a genius to figure out why the Egyptian people are frustrated.

In the Western world, we experienced similar troubles until the advent of birth control and the womens' lib movement. The difference was that in our society prior to that, divorce was still largely stigmatized and woman couldn't really work. Apply the same sexual rules to economically free couples who are able to get divorced whenever they want to, and you've got yourself a one-way ticket to splitsville.

Let's face it, if you tell a bunch of adolescents and young adults that they can't get past first base without getting married, you're going to see a lot of ill-advised weddings. What did they think was going to happen?

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Katherine McKee's picture

How Do Women Survive Infidelity?

Posted by Katherine McKee on Fri, 03/14/2008 - 2:35pm

Just how do women get through infidelity in marriage? Does infidelity always lead to divorce?

These are questions the media and armchair pundits are pondering in the aftermath of the Spitzer sex scandal. Psychologists and academics say the obligation to remain sexually faithful to one's spouse continues to carry a lot of weight, at least in the U.S. In France and Italy, it's something else altogether. But in the U.S., among all the marital problems one can have, infidelity is the one most likely to lead to divorce.

Sociologists' research on infidelity shows that men are routinely motivated by sex, while women stray outside the bounds of marriage in search of emotional intimacy, the kind they're not receiving from their spouse. Yes, more men than women cheat, but the numbers are increasing for both genders.

In fact, a 1994 study by sociologist Edward Lauman found that 10 percent to 11 percent of spouses had cheated in the previous year; over a lifetime, the study revealed about 18 percent of women and 24 percent of men reported an extramarital affair. More recently, a 2006 Pew Research Center survey found that nearly 90 percent of participants said it's morally wrong for married individuals to have an affair, which may or may not involve sex. Nearly the same percentage said adultery is morally wrong.

Notably, experts say that wives are more likely to forgive a cheating spouse and remain in the marriage particularly if the infidelity was committed with a prostitute or a one-night stand, versus a mistress or someone with whom a longer-term emotional bond was formed. However men are much less forgiving of their cheating wives; most don't tolerate their wives' indiscretions and view infidelity as a statement about their manhood.

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Katherine McKee's picture

Whatcha Gonna Do Now, Silda?

Posted by Katherine McKee on Thu, 03/13/2008 - 8:47am

The hand-wringing over Silda Wall Spitzer's future with her now defamed husband, the governor of New York, has officially begun. Newspapers, talk radio, TV pundits, therapists and armchair shrinks — yeah, that's you and me and all of us — all chipping in with our two cents.

Silda, Silda, Silda... Whatever was she thinking standing by her cheatin' hubby, the gov of New York? Well, she and the gov are married for 20 years. They have three kids together. She shelved her prestigious and lucrative legal career to raise the kids and to be a dutiful political wife. She's also a passionate philanthropist and organizer, having founded a children's advocacy program (Children for Children), among other activities.

This is a dynamic woman. She is no fool. Will her children, three beautiful girls, ever be able to trust the men in their lives? What message does it send to them if she stays?

All bets are off on Silda's marriage. Yep. In what's likely to become the Super Bowl of divorces, I anticipate a separation and divorce proceedings to begin within six to eight months, or at least before the end of 2008.

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Maureen Dempsey's picture

Does Infidelity Equal Divorce?

Posted by Maureen Dempsey on Wed, 03/12/2008 - 10:00am

The Huffington Post explores the pros and cons of "standing by your man" (I have a feeling we're going to see this phrase quite a bit in the coming weeks...) and attempts to determine whether infidelity is grounds for divorce.

Turns out, 35 percent of marriages survive a cheating spouse. Actually, the direct quote is, "only 35 percent of marriages survive..." Really? HuffPo believes this to be a small percentage? That sounds like far too many women who forgive and forget.

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