Women's rights activists are up in arms about a contentious divorce case in Tennessee that may result in the local marital property laws to be changed. According to an article in Tennessean.com, "a wage-earning husband gets to keep $1.7 million in stock. His homemaker wife gets nothing."

Okay, I admit, when we're talking about the rights of the stay-at-home spouse — and let's face it, while many husbands including my own are starting to stay home, it's generally the wife — and there are a few million dollars in play, I can see why people are getting concerned. Some are suggesting that if this settlement goes through as is, it could be precedent setting and go against state laws.

But, and there's a really big but, I don't think that this case has anything to do with the wife being a homemaker. The court says that the husband is being allowed to keep the stock and not share it because all he did was hold it after receiving it as a gift from his father. Her employment status is irrelevant.

In my opinion — and I know this is going to make me the bad guy — when you decide not to work, you take a risk. A gift given to one individual is just that — a gift with only one intended recipient. If Daddy had given him a cheese knife, is she entitled to half of that, too?

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Thumbs up to Gannett News Service for a nice, long, comprehensive point-by-point breakdown of all the financial matters you need to think about when you go through a divorce.

With the number of divorces there are in the United States, every media outlet in the country could do this story once a month and it still probably wouldn't be enough. There are so many things to remember, and considering it's the worst time in your life, you're bound to overlook some of them.

Long story short, getting divorced is like getting ready to buy a house. Just make off that you're about to go through a loan application. Take stock of all your assets. One tip that jumped out at me was to think about assets that might not typically be on the top of your head, like frequent flyer miles and store reward club memberships. These things may seem insignificant in the grand scheme, but they should be considered and divided up nonetheless.

Another thing lots of people forget is the need to update wills and change beneficiary information. This one is particularly easy to overlook because for at a lot of us, that involves an appointment with a lawyer or financial advisor — and that's just one more thing you have to make time for.

One expert Gannett talked to says one of the key mistakes people make is trying to hold on to their house at all costs. You may get the house, but that means you also get the mortgage and property taxes and upkeep of the house all to yourself. Can you afford that? If you're staying in the house for the benefit of your kids, so they won't have to move and change schools, you should be entitled to more spousal support so you can afford everything you need.

There's lots more in this article — it's a must-read if you're going through a divorce.

The Vienna divorce fair we’ve written about here at FWW got going this week, and to say the least it sounds like a pretty interesting affair.

In addition to lawyers and private investigators on hand looking for business, a couple’s therapist and the Roman Catholic Church also have booths at the event. The church, of course, is opposed to divorce, so that makes their presence pretty interesting. One of the things I wondered about this event was how people were going to manage to discuss their situations with exhibitors in a crowded room. They’ve solved that problem by having private rooms available.

All in all, it seems like a pretty cool idea, though let’s not lose sight of the fact that the whole thing is a business venture. The guy running the show also promotes wedding fairs and he realized the opportunity for a divorce fair by looking at the numbers. According to statistics cited in a Bloomberg report on the fair, divorce has risen by 20 percent in Austria over the past two decades, and two-thirds of the marriages in Vienna end in divorce.

There are plans for more of these divorce fairs in Germany and London. Keep an eye out, because as many divorces as we have here in the U.S., it’s only a matter of time before these shows are happening here too.

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Later this month in Austria, they’re going to have what is being called the world’s first divorce fair. The event will bring together all sorts of resources to help people navigate their way through the end of a marriage -- everything from legal information and tips for spying on your cheating spouse to advice on how to help children deal with what’s happening.

Provided that this doesn’t just turn into a way for money-grubbing attorneys to drum up more business, I think it’s a great idea. As prevalent as divorce is in the U.S., it seems like it’s only a matter of time before events like this one take place here.

The only drawback I can see is that it could be rather awkward to walk up to someone at a booth in a crowded convention hall and start asking for advice or talking about your own situation. Divorce is such a personal thing, it seems like the dynamic of the interactions at an event like this might be a bit stilted. Still, it’s an interesting and worthwhile-sounding concept.

One rather ironic thing, though. The organizer of this event also organizes wedding fairs. Isn’t that versatile?

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Because neither party can buy out the other at today's inflated real estate prices, couples are being forced to sell their property as part of divorce settlements. Thousands of acres of family farms are being sacrificed at land auctions in order to get quick sales.

One agricultural consultant predicted that in the next year, more land will be coming onto the market because of marital breakdown. Some couples, although legally and emotionally separated, are staying together to save the property.

This is not the best way to get on with your life. It may be desirable for the custodial parent to stay in the marital home, but not economically feasible, given rising taxes and maintenance.

In the states, with a decline of real estate prices in many parts of the country, resale is a struggle. If the property is not sold, the parties will not have the capital to make a new purchase.

For non-married co-habiting couples, the problem of jointly-held real estate, becomes even a bigger headache when they want to split. If a buy out is not possible, they may have to stay together, living separate lives.

The ironic twist is that the rising real estate prices actually prompted some of the divorce actions. It was believed that there would be sufficient money to be divided among the parties, to allow for new beginnings. As real estate sales decline in this changing market, divorce may have positive as well as negative consequences.

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Divorce is not a simple process for anyone, but it can take a really long time if you're rich. That's pretty much the main point to pull out of the latest story on pro golfer Greg Norman's divorce.

Now, we've written about this before. But just in case you're new to the story, Greg and his ex-wife Laura Theresa Andrassy are scheduled for another hearing in early November. They're still haggling over who will end up with the tax liability for one of their jets. Yes, that's jets, plural.

And then Laura's attorneys are going to try to make Greg pay her more money because he's been dragging his feet on coughing up the cash he's supposed to give her. As if he's really going to notice it when he finally does pay her. Let's be honest, though. Laura hasn't exactly been destitute, unless you ignore the $725,000 Greg gave her that she and her attorneys burned as they worked out the details of the settlement.

One day I hope I have money problems like these.

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At this time of great emotional pain, making ends meet becomes a daunting task. I've put together a few strategies for money management and living within a budget for all the women out there facing the post-divorce financial crunch.

Changing your lifestyle isn't easy, but if you keep these tips in mind, you can survive post-divorce financial troubles. Don't let yourself and your family become part of the rising debt statistics — manage your money wisely.

Create a Budget:

1. List predictable amounts and sources of income. If employed, use your take-home pay.
2. Record your monthly recurring expenses: rent/mortgage, utilities, food, medical, insurances, transportation, car payment, credit cards, telephone, cable, internet, education, clothing, charity, gifts, misc.
3. For three months, record all of your expenditures — this helps you know where your money is going.
4. If you have more expenses than income, adjustments will have to be made.
5. The final divorce decree should have allocated debt responsibility. Include your share of payments in the budget.

Trim Expenses:

In the latest twist to Bach's rocky story, a judge is threatening to kick her out of her home if she doesn't show up for her scheduled court hearing on October 1.

Along with additional spousal and child support, Bach had asked the judge to delay the financial trial with The Hoff so her accountants had time to review what she claims are multiple boxes of financial documents.

Last time we checked in, Bach was being sued by her former attorney, Gary Mitchell, who claimed the actress owes him some $40,000 in unpaid fees. Mitchell said he represented Bach in her divorce from Hasselhoff for about six months.

Bach has until Wednesday to decide what she's going to do. We're sure she must be at her wits end with this divorce — a dangerous time when rash decisions are often made just to spite domineering ex-hubbies and pestering judges.

Don't fall into that trap, sister! Hold on to those house keys, show up for court, and put this awful chain of events behind you as soon as possible.

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It appears - at least during Shaq's engagement to his soon-to-be-ex-wife Shaunie - the NBA star was spending some serious quality time with Karinne Steffans, the infamous "Video Vixen" who's been indulged by a list of celebs, including Jay-Z and Usher.

"On the first date, he gave me $10,000," Steffans told The New York Daily News. "Over four months, [he spent] more than $40,000 on me, as far as I can remember."

Coming out swinging, Shaq is accusing Shaunie of being "secretive about her assets," according to a petition filed by his lawyer, Ira Elegant, in Miami-Dade Circuit Court on Tuesday.

The petition also requests that the court require Shaunie to give a "correct accounting of all money, funds, stocks, bonds, and other securities (including bearer securities)" obtained during their marriage. An existing pre-nuptial already "contains extensive provisions providing for confidentiality and non-disclosure," according to the petition.

We're dying to see what comes to light tomorrow. We're just hoping that Shaunie's lawyers are as well prepared to deal with whatever new revelations should service in the coming day and months. Particularly with Steffans now involved, we know which team we're rooting for. Go, Shaunie! Go!

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By the looks of it, Shaq, 35, was well prepared for his eventual spit from Shaunie, 32 who was his long-term girlfriend before the two made it official in late 2002. The couple's home, on Miami Beach's exclusive Star Island, was already up for sale for $32 million.

An existing pre-nuptial "contains extensive provisions providing for confidentiality and non-disclosure," according to a petition filed by O'Neal's lawyer, Ira Elegant, in Miami-Dade Circuit Court on Tuesday.

Ready to play hardball, Shaq — who makes a cool $20 million a year playing for the Miami Heat — said in the petition that Shaunie has been "secretive about her assets ... particularly with respect to certain properties owned or titled in either [her] name alone or in other entities." The petition requests that the court require Shaunie to give a "correct accounting of all money, funds, stocks, bonds, and other securities (including bearer securities)" obtained during their marriage.

Personally, we wouldn't want to tangle with someone of Shaq's superhuman girth, but Shaunie is obviously a tough cookie. A lesser woman would never have made it this far with the O'Neal. Either way, Shaunie and the kids will be well cared for. The fight, if there is one, will likely be had over the terms of that care.

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