Stories related to: divorce

With her marriage to Guy Ritchie reportedly on the rocks, Madonna is entertaining nighttime visits from hunky Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez, US Weekly reports. A-Rod has dropped by the singer’s New York apartment several times and left “as late as midnight,” a source said, but the Material Girl's rep yesterday strongly denied either a pending divorce or any dalliances. More »

Guy Ritchie followed Madonna to New York yesterday to save his marriage—and also huddle with the family accountant in case his attempts fail. Ritchie could land $100 million of his wife’s $800 million fortune so “the lawyers will want to go through the assets with a fine-tooth comb,” a source told the Daily Mirror . More »

Whether a marriage reaches its gold anniversary or ends up in divorce court could depend on the spouses' birth order, reports Divorce360.com.“There is strong connection between birth order and divorce rates,” says one counselor. “The most successful marriages are those where the oldest sister of brothers marries the youngest brother of sisters.” More »

"I felt absolutely awful, I was humiliated, I was embarrassed, I was hurt," the husband of YouTube sensation Patricia Walsh-Smith said yesterday in a New York divorce court. "I felt violated in every sense of the word." Philip Smith was telling his side of the story—to a judge—after his wife's series of angry videos spilled endless details about their stormy and apparently sexless marriage of 9 years to millions. More »

Madonna has asked Guy Ritche, her husband of 7 years, for a divorce, the Mirror reports. After a troubled year for their marriage and consultation with divorce lawyers, Madge decided to make it final, friends of the couple said last night. “It was quite painless but very sad. He's off to the country to get a bit of peace and quiet." More »

Madonna is set to enlist the services of the lawyer who handled Paul McCartney’s divorce settlement, the Times of London reports. The pop star, 49, is reportedly exploring a split from director Guy Ritchie, 39. "Steel magnolia” Fiona Shackleton gained notoriety when she secured such a favorable result for McCartney that Heather Mills emptied a water jug over her head in court. More »

Madonna and Guy Ritchie are so unhappy they’re discussing divorce, the Daily Mirror reports. The two rarely go out in public together anymore, and they live essentially separate lives in their London mansion. Both admit that any romance between them has long ended and insist there are no hard feelings. “They're obviously sad,” said one friend, “but they're dealing with it like grown-ups.” More »

Beleaguered Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi caused a scene in a church over the weekend, loudly demanding from a startled bishop in the middle of mass: "When are you going to change this rule that stops me taking communion?" Berlusconi, like other divorced Catholics who remarry, is banned from receiving the sacrament. The prime minister, who has been lobbying to halt his corruption trial, now has his sights set on Vatican policy, the Guardian reports. More »

It’s been four years since Massachusetts legalized gay marriage, and there are winners, losers—and everything in between, the New York Times reports. In what one gay married man calls “a mixed bag,” it appears that gays are more likely to rush into marriage, more likely to marry older, and more likely to sign pre-nuptial agreements. Pay attention, California. More »

Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons swears he’s just friends with Kathy Karrasch. Very friendly: during one six-week span last year, Gibbons and Karrasch exchanged 867 texts from his state-owned cell phone, according to the Reno Gazette-Journal. Gibbons is mired in a messy divorce, and his soon-to-be-ex-wife says it’s all because of his “infatuation and involvement” with Karrasch. More »

For a state that boasts Sin City as its main attraction, Nevada is utterly transfixed with Gov. Jim Gibbon’s marital woes. Ever since he filed for divorce last month, Gibbons has been followed around like a starlet, with pictures of him with various alleged “other women” routinely cropping up. His wife’s siege of the governor’s mansion even made People magazine. More »

Shania Twain, nursing a broken heart after a split from her husband of 14 years, has posted a heartfelt message thanking her fans for their support on her website. The Canadian country singer promises to return stronger than ever. Twain's marriage fell apart after her husband had an affair with a close friend of hers, sources told People . Both deny it. More »

Lindsay Lohan’s mom Dina must appear in Family Court this morning or face “immediate arrest and imprisonment," the New York Daily News reports. Ex-con and ex-hubby Michael has reopened their divorce case, citing the E! reality star’s drunkenness in front of their children and her failure to comply with court-ordered visitation rights. More »

Now that 4 million people know intimate details of her marital problems—at least her side of the story— New York magazine sends Phoebe Eaton to size up the YouTube divorcée in person. Tricia Walsh-Smith, flamboyant actress, sometime playwright, and wife of a theater operator 25 years her senior, posted a series of videos skewering her husband, dishing about their sex life (or lack of same), and complaining about a miserly pre-nup. More »

Joint custody, visitation rights, continued care, and financial support—custody negotiations are no longer restricted to the kids, USA Today reports, as more ex-partners wrangle over the pooch. In a recent survey, 25% of divorce lawyers reported an increase in pet-custody issues, with 90% of those cases involving dogs. It’s a “very hotly contested issue,” said one attorney. More »

Dylan McDermott is ending his 12-year marriage, E! Online reports. The actor filed for divorce Friday, citing irreconcilable differences, though according to the documents he and wife Shiva Rose have been separated since last year. In an appropriate twist, McDermott, who is most famous for his 7-year stint playing a lawyer on The Practice , will represent himself in the proceedings. The pair have two daughters, ages 12 and 2. More »

An 8-year-old girl granted a divorce by a Yemeni court last week has described how she ran from "room to room" to escape her 30-year-old husband until he "beat me and then did what he wanted," reports ABC News. "I cried so much, but no one listened to me." The girl, forced into the arranged marriage by her father, fled early this month to a nearby courthouse, where a lawyer agreed to take her case. More »

Diamonds really are a girl's best friend, especially when auctioned off to sympathetic sisters on ExBoyfriendJewelry.com. EBay offers goods without much backstory, but the founders of the gem-hocking site put a personal twist on swapping, selling, and auctioning artifacts of toxic relationships, the New York Times reports. More »

Vladimir Putin moved swiftly to put to rest rumors he was planning to divorce his wife to marry a 24-year-old former gymnast and current member of parliament. During a visit to Italy, the lame duck Russian president assured reporters that there was "not a single word of truth" to the tabloid story that broke yesterday, the BBC reports. More »

Finland's citizens will get an extra week of vacation specifically for romance if a proposed bill becomes law, Bloomberg reports. The legislation, which currently has 13 of the 100 required backers, would augment the 25 paid vacation days and 10 public holidays that already put Finns above the EU norm. Slightly more than half of Finnish marriages end in divorce. More »