Recent Blog Posts in December 2010

Divorce attorneys in Pasadena have a knack for telling the seriousness of a Hollywood breakup by how fast the divorce papers are filed. Judging by the speedy turnaround, the marriage of movie stars Ryan Reynolds and Scarlett Johansson appears to be very much over.

Two weeks ago, Reynolds and Johansson announced they had decided to divorce. Now Reynolds has put his paperwork where his mouth is. The star of the upcoming Green Lantern filed divorce paperwork in Los Angeles Superior Court two days before Christmas. And new details of the breakup have emerged, as have new rumors of which Hollywood leading lady Reynolds is currently cozying up to.

While the exact details of the breakup remain fuzzy at best, what we can tell from Reynolds’ recently-filed paperwork is that the Canadian hunk plans on keeping things civil. Neither highly-paid actor is seeking spousal support from the other. Likewise, the duo plans on splitting all community property in half even though no property rights have been determined yet. There was no prenuptial agreement, sources tell TMZ, and Reynolds made more money than Johansson during their two-year marriage. Johansson’s response was field at the same time, signaling that the couple is indeed taking the high road. Maturity and civility aside, both have hired two highly-sought-after Los Angeles divorce attorneys.

As the “Sexiest Man Alive,” Reynolds could have his pick of Hollywood beauties for his next real-life costar and, depending on what tabloid you believe, he’s already made his choice! Some news outlets have reported Reynolds long has been involved with his co-star of The Proposal, Sandra Bullock. And the also-newly-single Bullock and Reynolds have been photographed on the town several times recently. Still, other gossip hounds say that it’s his involvement with Green Lantern costar Blake Lively that caused his marriage with Scarlett to collapse. Lively, to make things even more complicated, recently called it quits with her Gossip Girl costar Penn Badgley.

Reynolds and his camp remain tight-lipped about his love life, but expect a plethora of revelations when he hits the press circuit to promote Green Lantern this summer.

As any divorce attorney in Pasadena will tell you, text messages, e-mails and Facebook photos all can be used in divorce court, but snooping around your spouse’s inbox could get you into serious trouble. Just ask Leon Walker. The Michigan man has been charged with a felony for hacking his wife’s e-mail account. Now he could face up to five years in prison for reading his wife’s personal e-mail.

Oakland County prosecutors have charged Walker with a felony using a Michigan statute usually employed to prosecute identity theft or insider trading. Walker used his wife Clara Walker’s password to access her e-mail account and read dozens of personal messages. Upon reading Clara’s e-mails, Leon learned his spouse was having an affair. The Walkers’ divorce was finalized early this month, but the legal trouble for Leon Walker has just begun.

It’s the first time the statute has been used in a domestic case, and according to legal experts, it might be hard to prove.

"It's going to be interesting because there are no clear legal answers here," attorney Frederick Lane told the Detroit Free Press in an interview. “The fact that the two still were living together, and that Leon Walker had routine access to the computer, may help him,” Lane said.

In fact, Walker told the Detroit Free Press, “It was a family computer.”

Still, prosecutors believe they have legitimate charges against Walker.

“The guy is a hacker,” said case prosecutor Jessica Cooper, who noted that Clara Walker’s e-mail account “was password protected.”

But Leon Weiss, who represents Mr. Walker in the criminal case, believes the prosecution is way off base and that his client has been wrongfully charged.

“If the Michigan legislature had wanted to prohibit one spouse living under the same roof, with a shared computer, from reading a spouse’s e-mail, they could have constructed the statute to prohibit that,” he said. “There is no real expectation of privacy in e-mail,” Weiss added. “It’s too out there.”

Now it will be up to the court to decide if Leon Walker was breaking the law when he accessed his wife’s e-mail account. The pretrial is set for early in 2011.

When last we left award-winning actor Kelsey Grammer and his estranged pampered reality star wife Camille Grammer, the pair was knee-deep in the degree of divorce ugliness that can only be created in Hollywood. Family attorneys in Pasadena as well as gossip columnists have watched the pair lob barbs at one another, make red carpet snubs and generally act like a couple of babies. The latest chapter of the saga includes a shocking confession by Lady Camille — while Frasier himself makes a wish for the seemingly impossible.

Followers of the Grammer storyline can attest to the fact that Camille has little or no problem running her mouth about the divorce. So it was of little surprise when the Bravo star opened up about Kelsey to Extra TV right before the holidays.

“We’ve been together 14 years; I thought we had a really good run of it. I still love my husband, my soon-to-be ex-husband,” she told the show. She also expressed that the holiday season was particularly difficult since her husband has already moved on. “He’s in love; he’s getting married, so I don’t think there’s any reconciliation. Someone gets engaged and tells you he’s going to get married in January and we’re still legally married. . . . It’s not easy.”

Over at Camp Trade-a-Blonde-In, Kelsey Grammer has apparently asked a judge for something Santa didn’t bring him: a quickie divorce. Kelsey is asking the court to grant the divorce decree immediately and leave the money issues to be settled later. This “bifurcation,” as it’s known in legal-land, essentially would postpone the haggling over the Grammers’ mass belongings and financial assets so that the divorce could be finalized. Under California law, divorce can be final 6 months after a petition is filed; Camille filed on July 1, 2010, meaning that Kelsey and new girlfriend Kayte Walsh could get married as soon as January, 1 2011, if the judge grants the bifurcation.

Naturally, Camille isn’t thrilled and many expect she’ll do what she can to rain on Kelsey’s wedding day. A friend of hers told TMZ that Camille “is not surprised but continues to be disappointed at Kelsey’s immature and disrespectful behavior.”

As sure as you can bet on Camille saying something utterly ridiculous on the next episode of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, you can bet that we haven't heard the last of the divorce drama from these two.

Just over a month after filing for divorce from her basketball star husband, Tony Parker, Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria may already be showing signs of moving on. As divorce attorneys in Pasadena can tell you, they are used to shouldering their clients’ divorce needs so that those clients can focus on building a new life.

Longoria and Parker began what appeared to be a fairytale marriage in July of 2007. After 3 ½ years, the fairytale ended when Longoria filed for divorce in a Los Angeles court. Rumors are never in short supply when it comes to a celebrity marriage, and this one has been no different.

Recently, when asked if being around children in need makes her want to adopt a child, Longoria replied, “Of course.” That’s all it took for the rumor to take flight. Is Longoria planning to adopt? Whether the rumor is true or false is beside the point. Celebrities are as human as anyone else, and just like anyone else facing divorce proceedings, Longoria will have to start a new life. Even though she has just filed for divorce, her comment about adoption may show that she is not waiting for her divorce to be complete before she starts thinking of what might come next.

A divorce is obviously the end of something, but these days more and more people are trying to get their life back on track as soon as possible. And Longoria looks like she’s already thinking about building her new life.

Some think that she might be following the lead of Sandra Bullock. After announcing that she had filed for divorce, Bullock also revealed that she was adopting a 3 ½-month-old boy as a single parent.

Both of these celebrities illustrate an important point in today’s world: It’s never too early to start a new life. Pasadena divorce attorneys understand that with strong and supportive legal council taking care of the divorce proceedings, the new life can start ASAP!

It’s been a record year for professional sports stars and divorce. From Tiger and Elin to the McCourts, divorce attorneys in Pasadena and celebrity couple watchers have seen dozens of sports couples in 2010 call off their marriages. The latest sports world celebrity to get divorce is soccer star Landon Donovan.

Donovan, who plays for the L.A. Galaxy, and actress wife Bianca Kajlich filed for divorce in Los Angeles on Tuesday. Donovan and Kajlich would have celebrated their fourth wedding anniversary later this week.

"We remain the closest of friends and will always be important parts of each other's lives,” the couple said in a joint statement.

But some surprising details of the split were found in the couple’s divorce papers. According to TMZ, Donovan didn’t use a fancy Los Angeles law firm to file his papers… he filed them himself! What’s more, the soccer star is asking Kajlich for spousal support.

Problems for the pair started in July of last year. The couple separated amidst allegations that Donovan fathered a love child with a British woman. The star scoffed at the rumors during last year’s ESPY Awards, telling E! Online, “I will not be a dad any time soon, which is good news for me.”

Donovan claimed he was “informed of the possibility” that he could be a father during the World Cup. While not denying the affair, Donovan told reporters at the time that if the allegations regarding paternity were true, “I will provide the appropriate support.”

Although Donovan did not turn out to be the father of the child, he and Kajlich remained separated. The divorced pair has no children together but will have plenty professionally to keep themselves busy. Kajlich has two new films coming out in the new year, while Donovan is rumored to be returning to Everton, the British team that launched his career.

Divorce attorneys in Pasadena certainly don’t have the free time that their Scottish counterparts do. According to a new study, divorce rates in the kilted country are the lowest in almost 30 years.

New statistics show that there were only a scant 10,173 divorces in 2009 thru 2010. That’s 10 percent fewer than the previous year and the lowest divorce rate since 1981. Like in the United States, the economic downturn is attributed for the one of the reasons Scottish couples are staying together.

"It's an enormous financial burden for a couple to break up in terms of one partner moving out and having to find somewhere else to live and perhaps being forced to sell a property for less than they paid, given the fall in property prices in some areas," says Stuart Valentine of Relationships Scotland.

The statistics also were broken down for the first time ever by what type of wedding Scots have and how that plays into the likelihood of staying together. According to the numbers, Catholic marriages are the strongest and longest lasting. Catholic unions lasted an average of 20 years before the couples divorced, about four years more than the national average. New marriages also dropped in Scotland. The early 1980s saw roughly 38,00 new marriages; in contrast, there were only 27,500 last year.

Great numbers aside, legal experts say there is no real reason to believe Scottish marriages are stronger now than they were 30 years ago.

“It could just be a statistical anomaly where the sharp decline in marriages has failed to filter through to the divorce statistics,” says Stephen Brand, a family law and litigation expert in Scotland.

Once upon a time, Elizabeth Hurley was the other woman, scorned by her cheating boyfriend actor Hugh Grant (who was infamously caught cheating with Hollywood hooker Divine Brown). Grant and Hurley called it quits and Hurley moved on — and moved up. Hurly married billionaire textiles tycoon Arun Nayar. The three-year marriage was shown earlier this month to have crumbled when it was announced that Hurley was caught cheating with a handsome Australian cricket star. Now, like many people seeking divorce advice in Pasadena, Hurley reportedly wants to give her marriage a second chance.

European tabloids are reporting that Hurley, who rose to fame as a model and movie star in the 1990s, is begging her estranged husband not to divorce her. Hurley had claimed that her marriage ended months before her affair with Shane Warne became public. Yet sources close to the couple say that the two-month fling with the athlete not only ended Hurley and Nayar but also the marriage of Warne and his wife, Simone. Warne allegedly wants to marry Hurley but she is in a hurry to reconnect with her ex.

"Liz knows she's been a fool and has phoned Arun to say sorry and beg forgiveness. But Arun wants no part of it, and is still going for quickie divorce," a source told The Sun.

Nayar reportedly is angry with Hurley and already has been seen in public with other women, one of which he was caught kissing outside a club in London. Hurley, according to reports, dumped Warne after she found more than 100 sexy text messages sent to another woman on the cricket player’s phone.

Meanwhile, Hurley continues to raise her 8-year-old son, Damian Charles Hurley, whose father is American film producer Steven Bing. Professionally, Hurley has not been seen on screen since 2004 but is poised to return in 2011 with a starring role in Mary Lambert’s vampire thriller High Midnight.

Pasadena, CA (PRWEB) December 13, 2010 - Certified Family Law Attorney, Donald P. Schweitzer has been elected to serve as the 2011 Vice President and Program Chair of the Pasadena Bar Association.  Mr. Schweitzer will begin his position, January 2011.

Mr. Schweitzer will be responsible for planning and organizing all of the PBA's general meetings, assisting with the Section Chairs, and special meetings that take place within the year.  Mr. Schweitzer will also serve by assisting the incoming President of the association with the implementation of benefits to members of the PBA.

Mr. Schweitzer was elected to this position by board members and past presidents whom select people they think would make meaningful contributions towards the Pasadena Bar Association.

According to Mr. Schweitzer, "I have chosen to accept the position, because I thoroughly enjoy doing volunteer work and have come to enjoy the meetings and associations that I've made after becoming a member"

In addition, Mr. Schweitzer will also be responsible for obtaining money for the association through sponsorships and will be organizing a Pasadena-based High School Speech Scholarship Tournament where the PBA will award the top two finalists with significant scholarships.

"I expect the speech and debate tournament will be extremely meaningful to the competitors and our members, said Schweitzer, while reflecting on the 2011 calendar.

Schweitzer further added, "One of my primary goals while serving as Vice President is to provide meaningful benefits to our members as well as serving the community."

Mr. Schweitzer is a Certified Family Law Specialist with over 15 years of trial experience.  Prior to going into private practice, Mr. Schweitzer served as a Deputy District Attorney in Orange County for 8 years. Mr. Schweitzer worked in numerous units within the District Attorney's office including, Writs and Appeals, Family Support, Municipal Court, Felony Panel, Gang Target, Felony Filing, and the Sexual Assault Unit.  H e is a member of the American Bar Association, the California State Bar, Los Angeles Bar Association, and the Pasadena Bar Association.

What a difference a year makes. This time last year, sports fans and divorce attorneys in Pasadena alike watched as Tiger Woods and wife Elin were embroiled in the biggest divorce and infidelity scandal of the year. Dozens of blonde bombshells came out of the woodwork, each claiming they had been sexually involved with the billionaire golfer as his distraught, soon-to-be-ex-wife scrambled to keep herself and her children out of the media frenzy. One year and one big fat divorce settlement later, Elin Nordegren returned home to Sweden for the holidays with a new career passion, a new independence and a new man.

Nordegren returned to Rollins College in Orlando, Florida, this fall. After a long sabbatical, Elin has decided to pursue her passion and get a degree in psychology. (The famous scorned wife had been a full-time student at Sweden’s Lund University when she met Tiger.) In addition to wisdom, Elin reportedly picked up a new boyfriend at Rollins College. Last week, gossip sites were ignited with juicy stories that told of Nordegren and her unnamed 35-year-old boyfriend getting cozy on campus. According to the UK Sun’s source at the college “There’s been kissing and cuddling but I don’t know if it’s gone further.”

Nordegren expressed her desire for independence and new adventures earlier this year to People magazine.

“I also feel stronger than I ever have,” she said. “I have confidence in my beliefs, my decisions and myself.”

Nordegren returned to Sweden this week with daughter Sam Alexis and son Charlie Axel. The Swedish holiday escape has become somewhat of a tradition for Nordegren. Elin and her children spent their Christmas last year in the country as a full-fledged media riot unfolded around her estranged husband. Tiger and Elin’s divorce was finalized on August 23, 2010; Nordegren is rumored to have received $100 million in her divorce settlement.

Divorce attorneys in Pasadena know that couples who work together run the risk of being in an awkward situation if the union ever goes awry. Two actors from a hit cable TV show soon will know how it feels to work with an ex. Dexter star Michael C. Hall and his onscreen sister and off-screen wife Jennifer Carpenter announced this week they are getting divorced.

Carpenter and Golden Globe-winning actor Hall met one another on the set of Dexter and dated quietly for a year-and-a-half before marrying. Hall, who had been previously married to actress Amy Spanger in 2002, and Carpenter eloped on December 31, 2008. Despite the newlywed happiness, the couple faced serious adversity when Hall was diagnosed with cancer. Hall’s agent and spokesman announced the actor was undergoing treatment for a treatable form of Hodgkin’s lymphoma in January 2010. According to Hall’s agent, the cancer was remission at the time and he was continuing treatment. Days later, the star appeared at the Golden Globes wearing a knitted cap, having lost his hair to chemotherapy. In April, Carpenter told reporters her spouse was cancer-free and was cured.

Hall and Carpenter wouldn’t be the first couple whose marriage fell apart after a serious illness, yet some Hollywood insiders say it was another woman who broke the couple up. Tabloids and gossip sites reported Hall and his new co-star, Julia Stiles, were often seen getting cozy on the set of Dexter. Stiles, after days of rumors, released a statement to E! News in hopes of setting the record straight.

“I have absolutely nothing to do with the split between Michael and Jennifer. We are good friends and enjoyed working together,” Stiles said in the statement. The usually press-shy actress wanted to squash rumors of an affair with Hall personally. "This is a personal matter between them, and we should respect their privacy. Although I too prefer to keep my private life private, I felt compelled to dispel the rumors I was somehow the cause for this matter."

Average-looking people seeking divorce advice in Pasadena, take heart. Apparently marriage isn’t easy for ridiculously gorgeous people, either. Just ask movie stars Ryan Reynolds and Scarlett Johansson. The two outrageously beautiful stars have called it quits after just two years of marriage. So why did People magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive and the sultry Black Widow of The Avengers wind up in divorce court?

The simple answer is that the two highly-sought-after actors might have been too busy too make time for one another. Reynolds and Johansson have been tight-lipped about their relationship since they met back in 2007, so it isn’t surprising that the couple is equally as coy when discussing their divorce. In a joint statement released this week, the pair said, “After long and careful consideration on both our parts, we've decided to end our marriage. We entered our relationship with love and it's with love and kindness we leave it. While privacy isn't expected, it's certainly appreciated.”

Thankfully for those of us hungry for the inside scoop, Hollywood gossip hounds have been speculating about the couple for months and are quick to offer alleged insight into why this couple of hotties broke up. Sources say Reynolds and Johansson have been on the outs for months. Tongues were sent wagging when Reynolds was a no-show for his wife’s guest host gig on Saturday Night Live last month, especially because Johansson made a cameo during her husband’s hosting of the program in 2009. Instead of being in the SNL audience, Reynolds was spotted at a party in Los Angeles. The New York Daily News reported that absences like this one were a norm for the couple, whose demanding work schedules appeared to have gotten in the way of their marriage. The pair rarely appeared in public with one another and was last seen together at the Tony Awards in May, where Johansson picked up a statue for her performance inA View from the Bridge.

Johansson and Reynolds were married on September 27, 2008, in a small ceremony in Tofino, British Columbia. This is the first marriage and divorce for the stars, though Reynolds previously was engaged to singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette in 2004.

If you’re a man seeking divorce advice in Pasadena, you might be doing something really great for your health by leaving your ex. A new study suggests divorce often serves as a catapult for newly-single men to improve their daily fitness routines, change their diets and lose weight. Post-divorce health and fitness for their ex-wives, however, doesn't look so great. According to the study, women are less likely to become healthy after a painful divorce.

The study was conducted by the Karolinska Institute and its findings were published in the American Journal of Epidemiology. Nine thousand men and women over the age of 45 were monitored by the institute over an eight-year period. Participants in the study underwent routine treadmill tests to determine their fitness and were questioned about their relationships during the duration of the study.

“There was a significant increase in fitness levels in men who divorced but ... a decrease in the fitness of divorced women,” researchers in Stockholm said. “Single men have the social pressure of keeping themselves fit to increase their attractiveness and find a partner, while married men no longer have that requirement, or at least they have it to a lower extent.”

Newly-single women, on the other hand, aren’t traditionally concerned with being in top physical shape.

"Women's attractiveness might not be related to fitness or strength but to other traits, such as a narrow waist-to-hip ratio," the researchers noted.

Findings of the Karolinska Institute differ from previous studies which monitored divorce and physical health. Prior studies have nearly conclusively found divorce to bring a myriad of health problems for newly-single people. A study conducted in the United States, for example, found that divorcées have a 20 percent higher rate of chronic illnesses than those who have never been divorced. This new study suggests men can fight the potential negative health effects of a divorce by working on their health and fitness.

Not even the savviest divorce attorneys in Pasadena could have predicted the marital collapse of Hollywood couple Kelsey and Camille Grammer. The pair, after all, seemed inseparable during their 13-year marriage. Kelsey often credited Camille as the person who had helped him stay sober. Yet late this past summer, things at Camp Grammer started to erupt. First, news broke that the pair was divorcing, followed quickly by the shocking announcement that Kelsey had been having an affair with Kayte Walsh. Then we learned Walsh was pregnant with his child. A few weeks later, it was revealed she had miscarried. Finally, before Kelsey and Camille’s divorce was even finalized, the Frasier star and his new girlfriend announced they were engaged. And that was just the beginning!

Since then, Camille has been extremely forthcoming about her ex-husband's infidelity; she is widely believed to be pursuing a vast amount of the star's fortune during divorce proceedings. So it’s no wonder Kelsey and his new love aren’t big fans of Camille’s television show,The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.

On their way into an A-list event this past weekend, Kelsey Grammer and Kayte Walsh were asked if they watched Camille’s hit reality television show. Grammer let his new fiancée answer the question as he looked on. “We don’t watch it,” Walsh said curtly before the pair hurried inside the event, which also included star attendees like Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling. Grammer’s indifference to the show could have something to do with the fact that on the program, he and Camille are portrayed as a loving couple even though we now know Kelsey was having an affair while the show was being filmed. Camille Grammer now claims she was pushed into doing the show so her husband could cheat on her.

“Looking back, maybe he wanted to keep me preoccupied in California while he was off having his affair in New York," Camille recently told the New York Post.

Camille also claims the show wasn’t her idea.

"I really didn't want to do" Housewives, she said. "I think it was more Kelsey's agenda. I was very reluctant, because I am a very private person."

Meanwhile, Camille’s housewife costars have her back. Lisa Vanderpump recently roasted Kelsey’s engagement on Twitter, saying, “Kelsey Grammer engaged? Did I miss something? Don't you think you should get divorced first?"

The recent passing of author and attorney Elizabeth Edwards has shed light on an issue seen frequently by divorce attorneys in Pasadena. Like many estranged spouses waiting to fulfill a legally-required separation time, Elizabeth and her husband, politician John Edwards, were not legally divorced at the time of her death.

Whispers of a divorce between the political power couple stared way back in 2008 during the presidential campaign, when Edwards’ affair with his mistress, Rielle Hunter, became public knowledge and caused him to withdraw from presidential contention in January of that year. Edwards and his wife remained silent on the topic for months. Edwards eventually admitted he fathered a child with Hunter in 2007, yet he and Elizabeth refused to make any lengthy statements regarding their marriage until they officially announced their separation last January. According to the law, the divorce between John and Elizabeth could not be initiated until the couple lived apart for a minimum of 12 months. Elizabeth died one month shy of the minimum allotted separation period.

Mrs. Edwards’ passing arrives on the eve of a publication of a tell-all book from John Edwards’ former senior campaign aide Andrew Young. According to the book, Edwards asked Young to cover up Hunter’s pregnancy as well the paternity of the now 3-year-old child. Young says Edwards told him that the concealing of Hunter and the child would only last until his wife’s inevitable passing. Mrs. Edwards was diagnosed with cancer in 2004 and battled the illness publicly for years. She spoke frankly about her disease, her family and her marriage in a pair of bestselling books. Her first book, Saving Graces: Finding Solace and Strength from Friends and Strangers, focused on the death of her son as well as her battle with cancer. Her second book,Resilience: Reflections on the Burdens and Gifts of Facing Life's Adversities, honestly discussed her husband’s infidelity and her ongoing battle with cancer.

Elizabeth Edwards was 61 years old.

For those seeking divorce advice in Pasadena, let the persistence of Jamie McCourt be a lesson to you. Mrs. McCourt has argued tirelessly that she is entitled to part ownership of the Los Angeles Dodgers, a team her estranged husband Frank claims belongs solely to him. Jamie even turned down a settlement last week in hopes that Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Scott Gordon would rule in her favor. And her gamble paid off. This week, Judge Gordon ruled that a postnuptial marital agreement giving sole ownership of the Los Angeles Dodgers to Frank McCourt is not valid.

"The court finds that the marital property agreement is not a valid and enforceable agreement," Judge Gordon wrote in his ruling. "The court orders that the marital property agreement is set aside."

The ruling isn’t expected to rock the Dodgers’ day-to-day operations as a team, though Frank is expected to make further legal moves to thwart his ex-wife’s attempts at becoming an active co-owner. Lawyers for Frank McCourt already have notified the court of a different legal strategy in a separate claim for sole ownership of the baseball team.

“Without the agreements in place, it becomes the court's job to determine which property is Frank's and which is Jamie's based on who holds legal title to the team," Frank’s attorney Marc Seltzer said in a statement. "The facts are crystal clear on this point. The Dodgers are solely in Frank's name."

Jamie McCourt's lawyers, on the other hand, have told the press that while their client is pleased with the ruling, she is looking forward to moving quickly toward a resolution.

"It's in the interest of her, her family, Dodger fans and the team,” one of her attorneys, David Boies, told the Associated Press. “She's not going to insist on exactly half, but if she's prepared to compromise, Frank has to look at this case with some realism."

Reality television fans and divorce attorneys in Pasadena alike have been watching the ladies of Bravo’s hit franchise “The Real Housewives” go through big time off-camera marital drama over the last several months. Both Tamra Barney and Vicki Gunvalson fromThe Real Housewives of Orange County made the tabloids with their respective high-profile divorces earlier this year, while New York housewife Countess Luanne de Lesseps split from her Count in 2009. Now the reality television divorce epidemic has migrated down south. Outspoken star of The Real Housewives of Atlanta NeNe Leakes reportedly has filed for divorce from her husband of 14 years, Gregg Leakes.

Fans of the Atlanta version of the franchise know NeNe Leakes as the outspoken, take-no-prisoners wife to Gregg, a subdued and seemingly reasonable businessman. The couple seemed like one of the more solid unions on the show compared to “other woman” Kim Zolciack and forever frigid Shree Whitfield. But the happy union began to crumble before the audience’s eyes this season as Gregg and NeNe were often shown at odds over finances and secrets. A recent episode showed NeNe at a divorce lawyer’s office but the star now tells Essence.com that she filed for divorce from Gregg “months ago.” Yet she also tells the magazine she and her estranged husband still live together.

“We are still together. We are in the same house and we are still legally married. But that's not to say we won't be unmarried,” she says.

The reality star turned memoir author also tells Essence she and Gregg remain friendly and committed to raising their 11-year-old son. Still, Leakes admits the emotional strain has started to take its toll.

“We are cordial, and it is very much of an up and down thing,” she says. “One day is good, the next day is bad. That's what I'm really tired of. And I'm very aware that the 40s for me are the new 30s and that I need to be happy because life is very short. “

While seeking divorce advice in Pasadena, don’t be discouraged that love will never happen again. With plenty of time and a lot of healing, love and marriage come around a second or third time for a large number of Americans. In fact, according to data published in the Census Bureau’s 2008 American Community survey, there are certain spots in the country where getting remarried is more common than you’d think.

Former President Bill Clinton may still be married to his first wife Hillary, but most folks from his home state of Arkansas were found in the survey to make the trip down the aisle several times. Ten percent of the state’s population marries three times or more. Neighboring state Oklahoma boasts 9.5 percent of the population that has been remarried three or more times. Other southern states, Tennessee and Alabama, both have high remarriage rates with 8.5 percent and 8 percent, respectively. Heading west, Nevada is a state known for its quickie marriages and even faster divorces. Therefore it makes sense that the study found Nevada to have one of the highest remarriage rates in the country. Eight percent of Nevada’s married population has three or more exes. Sparsely-populated Oregon has a shockingly high remarriage rate of 7.5 percent, while quiet Idaho racks up 8 percent of its population that has walked down the aisle multiple times. Majestic Wyoming is another wide open space state with a lot of remarriages. More than 8 percent of Wyomingites marry three or more times.

The findings from the study were based on adults ages 15 or older that have ever been married. The lowest states for remarriages? Minnesota, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts were found to have 3 percent or lower of their respective populations that have been remarried 3 or more times.

Baseball fans and divorce attorneys in Pasadena have been watching the divorce of Frank and Jamie McCourt for months. Interest is high in the breakup, as the fate of the Los Angeles Dodgers hangs in the balance. Now after taking 11 days to mull over a proposal that would finally settle the divorce case and determine ownership of the Dodgers, Jamie McCourt rejected the offer at the eleventh hour. With no end in sight and a last ditch effort at resolve tossed out, ownership of the baseball team is likely to remain a mystery into the new year.

Frank and Jamie McCourt have had the kind of billionaire divorce only possible in the world of professional sports and on the planet known as Los Angeles. Amid a tug of war over the Los Angeles Dodgers, which brings in millions of dollars in revenue every year, the McCourts have accused one another of corporate espionage, forgery, abuse of corporate power and infidelity. So one would assume the pair would be finally ready to end the soap opera for good. But Jamie McCourt is apparently prepared to keep fighting. Instead of taking the settlement, which would have given Frank sole ownership of the team, Jamie is relying on Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Scott Gordon to rule in her favor. Gordon has until January 18 to rule on the fate of the team.

Attorney for Frank McCourt Marc Seltzer has already voiced his frustration at the former Mrs. McCourt’s rejection.

"We can only conclude that Jamie … is allowing this matter to drag on further," Seltzer told The Los Angeles Times.

But courtroom watchers like lawyer Lisa Helfend Meyer believe Jamie’s most recent move was a strategic one.

“The bottom line is, she feels she can do better by waiting for the judge's decision than compromising now," Meyer said.

Baseball fans are hoping Judge Gordon will reach a decision long before the Dodgers head into spring training in the new year.

Family attorneys in Pasadena know that the breakup of a family is challenging for children regardless of economic background or the careers of their parents. But for famous children whose parents are divorcing, the dissolution of the family brings on a whole separate slew of complicated issues. Lately, we’ve seen kids from the world of entertainment come to grips with their divorcing parents in front of millions of people.

17-year-old Miley Cyrus may be a show business veteran thanks in part to her long-running hit television show Hannah Montana, but in the end Cyrus is a teenager whose parents are breaking up. KidsHealth.org says that teens in particular react strongly to divorce. The site says teens caught in the crossfire of divorce often feel “abandoned, afraid, worried or guilty” in addition to being angry and emotional over the situation. Cyrus has come under fire since her parents broke up and many gossip columnists are worried if the star is headed toward a breakdown. Sources close to the teenager say she is exhausted by pretending her life is normal.

“Miley is trying to be strong going through her parents’ breakup and she loves them both,” a friend recently told Hollywoodlife.com. “Everyone is reading into each of her every moves, like when she goes out with her mom and no one sees her dad. It’s pushing her buttons.”

Family therapists like Karen Mengle say rebellion or feelings of anger and confusion are to be expected by teens whose parents have broken up.

“I think we expect already emotional teenagers to react strongly to divorce, so for somebody like Miley whose whole life is chronicled in the tabloids the issue comes with its own set of challenges unique to famous kids,” Mengle says.

Instead of dealing with it in private, kids like Miley are forced to answer questions about it from the media and this can be particularly stressful. She adds that it is important for teenagers, famous or otherwise, “to able to have safe places to express their feelings about the divorce.”

Family attorneys in Pasadena have seen dozens of cases like the custody agreement of Britney Spears and ex-husband Kevin Federline. Many times, an ex like Spears has a mental illness or substance addiction which causes the other parent to seek full custody. After a widely-documented breakdown, Spears lost custody of her two children in 2008. Now, more than two years later, sources close to the star say she is ready to fight to change her custody agreement with Federline.

The 28-year-old singer, who most recently was seen on a much-buzzed-about episode of the hit TV series Glee, currently sees her two sons, five-year-old Sean Preston and four-year-old Jayden James, on a limited basis. As part of Federline having full custody of the two boys, Spears pays her ex-husband an estimated $15,000 per month to take care of them. While the pair remains amicable, close friends of the star say she’s ready to play a bigger role in her children’s lives. Federline, however, wants to keep the children in his care.

"At first, Britney thought it was because he was afraid of losing the money, so she offered him an out-of-court settlement, meaning he'd get the money regardless of who the boys live with,” a source close to the family told Closer magazine. “But he's told her he fears she's still too unstable and could go off the rails again."

Even though Britney has had her share of drama over the last few years, custody of her kids may still be a possibility. Spears, who remains under the court-ordered conservatorship of her father Jamie Spears, is said to have made significant progress since her very public meltdown. With a career back on track and a new romance with Jason Trawick, Britney’s life appears to be miles away from the events that led to her children being taken from her. Her father assumed control of both his daughter’s personal health and finances in 2008 and reportedly is staying in his daughter’s life for the foreseeable future.