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What can we learn from serial celebrity break-ups, billionaire bust-ups, misbehaving spouses, pants-on challenged politicos and the ever-shifting landscape of divorce law?? Question is, "What CAN'T we learn"? With latte in hand and clicky finger at the ready, dive in for the best in divorce news, views, gossip, and buzz – assembled below for your reading pleasure. Being in "d" know is just clicks away.

Jill Brooke's picture

Phil Collins’s Record Divorce Payout

Posted by Jill Brooke on Mon, 08/18/2008 - 12:02pm

Phil Collins isn’t having Another Day in Paradise this week, because he will be paying his third wife, Swiss-born Orianne Cevey, around $47 million in their divorce case, the largest payout ever by a British entertainer.

But at least the 57-year-old singer-songwriter has had a Groovy Kind of Love in the past few years with WCBS-TV anchorwoman Dana Tyler, a divorced woman, 49, who at least is closer to his age.

The two met when Tyler interviewed him in 2005 and they realized there was something In the Air Tonight.

Cevey acknowledged in a later interview that the couple had grown apart in 2005, and were leading Separate Lives. “We really got on well and then we realized our interests were not the same anymore,” said Cevey, 35, who met the singer when she was 22.

But she says, he will always Be in My Heart since she is looking on the “positive side.”

He has agreed that That’s Just the Way It Is, and, frankly, I Don’t Care Anymore.

Collins will keep a home in near Lake Geneva, in Switzerland, near their two young sons, Nicolas, 8, and Matthew, 4, as well as a bachelor pad in New York and a home in England.

But this is shaping up to be a far more amicable divorce than his previous two. Maybe he has learned from experience.

To end his relationship with his second wife, Jill Taverman, after he met Orianne, Collins gave her the heave-ho via fax. Apparently he couldn’t wait One More Night.

(The fax maneuver was worthy of the Artful Dodger.)

However, he still was generous in his divorce settlement, which at the time was more than $34 million for a 14 year relationship. They had a daughter, Lily, together.

Collins also had an earlier marriage to Andrea Bertorelli, which ended in 1980, and produced two children, Simon, 28, and Joelyi, 33.

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Naomi Dunne's picture

Revolutionary’s Ex Publishes Memoirs

Posted by Naomi Dunne on Mon, 08/18/2008 - 3:12am

I would like to tell you that I was once married to Che Guevara, but that would be a lie. (Your first clue is that Che died in 1967, one week after my mother turned 11.)

Since the revolutionary with a modern-day cult following couldn't have me, he had to settle for Hilda Gadea, who has written "My Life With Che", a book chronicling her tumultuous marriage to — and subsequent divorce from — the rebel with a very real cause.

The book is being billed as the history that starts where “The Motorcycle Diaries” left off.

Gadea, who met Guevara in 1953 at the tail end of his motorcycle tour across Latin America, was not initially impressed. "He seemed superficial, egotistical and conceited." As they swooned over poetry and a mutual love of the Guatemalan government, though, she changed her tune and they got married in 1956, six months before their daughter Hildita was born.

It seems Gadea wasn’t the only one with doubts about the romance. A few days before their marriage, Che wrote in his diary, "For someone else it might be one of the great moments in their life, but for me the whole business is rather painful. I'm going to be a father, and in a few days I'm going to marry Hilda. For her, this decision was a dramatic one; for me it was hard. She's finally getting what she wants, though only for the time being as far as I'm concerned, even if she hopes it'll be for good."

Che was right, and when mother and baby Hildita joined him after an extended absence in January 1959, he greeted her with the news that he had met someone else and wanted a divorce. He married his second wife a few days after the ink was dry and was still married to her when he died eight years later.

You'll be happy to note that he still found the time to father another child out of wedlock a few years before his death.

Your mother was right. If he does it with you, he'll do it to you.

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Linda Lee's picture

The Cost to Men for Committing Adultery? Not Enough.

Posted by Linda Lee on Mon, 08/18/2008 - 12:14am

Married men are 7 percent more likely than married women to commit adultery. And when a man has an affair, he doesn’t seem to consider the consequences of his actions. So says a study to be published in the fall, “So What Did You Do Last Night? The Economics of Infidelity.”

Infidelity for women peaks at 45, the study found. For men, it peaks at age 55.

Gee, what 55-year-old confessed adulterer has been in the news this week?

John Edwards, who claimed a week ago that he at least had been “99 percent honest” in his statements about the young filmmaker Reille Hunter.

“… [A] wealthy, famous politician such as John Edwards is a man with plenty of opportunity, and it seems that he gave the costs of getting caught little consideration. [That] fits well with our findings,” Bruce Elmslie, an economics professor in the Whittemore School of Business and Economics at the University of New Hampshire and a co-author of the study, told Firstwivesworld.

The study, co-written with Edinaldo Tebaldi, assistant professor of economics at Bryant University in Rhode Island, was based on data from the United States General Social Survey.

It is unusual in that it looks at infidelity from a cost-benefit analysis, rather than a sociological or psychological point of view.

Other points made in their study:

1. Men who are more likely to commit adultery:
• Live in cities (where there is greater opportunity to escape discovery)
• Do not have a college degree
• Do not belong to any particular socioeconomic group

2. What men do not take into account when having an affair:
• The economic status of the new woman, or her ability to bear children
• Their wife’s educational level
• Religion

"As with spousal education, men don't weigh the costs — spousal quality or eternal damnation — when deciding whether or not to have an affair," Elmslie said.

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Talk about a hot topic! FWW's own Debbie Nigro was recently featured on WNBC's Today in New York and Fox's The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet, covering divorced women's dating styles. Are you a dumbstruck dater? A panic dater? Debbie gave us the lowdown on these and more.

If you missed either segment, worry not! Here is the full, unabridged list...


Dating After divorce can be a wonderful new beginning, but everyone approaches it differently. Below is a list I came up with to describe various divorced gals dating styles I've observed over the years.

Ladies, you will find that you may fit in to more than one category. Some of you will even transition back and forth between categories at any given time. Let me know if I've missed any. Gentlemen, which of these gals have you dated?

Hopefully this will help you understand better who might be sitting across from you the next time, too.

Damaged Daters You don't trust anyone anymore with your heart. You've been burned. You are not so quick to jump back into another relationship, but you go anyway because you think you are supposed to at least try. Your cynical vibes smell defensive and stink up the room. Wear extra perfume.

I Don't Care Daters You are not interested. You're energy is focused elsewhere. You need time to to find out who you are. You go just because someone's very nice but you really don't care, but you don't let him know you don't care. He doesn't pick up you don't care so he calls you again and you go again..even though you don't care.

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Maureen Dempsey's picture

Same-Sex Couples Key To Lower Divorce Rate?

Posted by Maureen Dempsey on Wed, 06/11/2008 - 11:24am
Researchers are examining same-sex relationship dynamics to see how to improve heterosexual couples' success rates, reports The New York Times. The differences? Heterosexual women are delegated not only housework, but relationship work — and they're tired of carrying the responsibility for two. Additionally, heterosexual couples tend to become more physically agitated — elevated heartbeat and adrenaline surges — than their same-sex counterparts. The answer? Perspective. To find a little, click here.
Maureen Dempsey's picture

Post-Divorce, Older Daters Are Easy

Posted by Maureen Dempsey on Wed, 06/11/2008 - 10:22am
Lavalife Prime, an online dating site for singles 40+, shows that post-divorce daters are more laidback. "Unlike younger daters who are searching for that special someone, older daters aren't looking for a partner to make them complete. Of the prime daters on Lavalife, only 14 percent listed getting married or moving in together as a goal," a Lavalife spokesperson told Vaughn Today. For those (fearfully or reluctantly) reentering the singles scene, it's reassuring to know online dating is not synonymous with "desperate."

Click here for more.

Maureen Dempsey's picture

Viagra: The Gateway Drug to Divorce?

Posted by Maureen Dempsey on Wed, 05/28/2008 - 4:05pm

The magic little pill may spell trouble. According to a June 2008 report, a Harvard Medical School study said Viagra may add to marital stress. A couple used to dutifully kiss and go to sleep. Now he's popping pills, looking to reclaim his sexuality. Some wives may say Hallelujah, others may feel ambushed into re-creating his sexual fantasies. And all that while the laundry needs to be done.

Then there's another possibility. The study doesn't say it, but it's also possible he's met someone new, someone young and frisky. That's why he's taking Viagra.

Read more here.

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

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.

Click here for more information.

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.