the modern woman's divorce guide

For those of you who missed my introduction last week to this new feature….it’s time to catch up, so here’s the intro again.

Because divorce is such a normal part of life, articles, posts and discussions about divorce appear on the web everyday. Some of these pieces focus on the latest celebrity divorces or “shocking” statistics while others are soliloquies written by those suffering the breakdown of their marriage and resulting legal tribulations. Being in the divorce biz, I read many of these articles without passing them on to you (my mistake). So beginning today and to the best of my ability, I am going to begin posting links to the better quality pieces I read so you too can read “hot off the presses” divorce text, which may or may not be of interest to you….here goes…This week’s most interesting divorce articles, posts and discussions….

The New York Post’s “‘I was humiliated’ Hubby takes the stand in ‘YouTube Divorce’ with Trisha Walsh-Smith” – It all makes sense now. Last week I mocked Philip Smith’s labeling of the YouTube Divorce tirade as spouse abuse, but now I understand why. Mr. Smith is trying to divorce his wife in New York, which despite all of its progressive ways, has archaic divorce laws that still require fault grounds for divorce, such as infidelity or cruel and inhuman treatment. So the poor 76 year old is trying to establish his case as grounds for a divorce from his very vocal wife. Fun. This is one of the primary reasons most states changed their laws and now grant divorces based on the mild mannered grounds of “irreconcilable differences”.

Jill and Shelley’s blog, “Nirvana Mommas” – I LOVE these ladies! There story goes like this: “We never thought we’d end-up divorced young moms. Ever. But it happened. Then our lives collided when Jill married Shelley’s ex-husband. Though the collision of the new-wife and ex-wife’s lives is hardly uncommon – our reaction to it was. We refused to perpetuate the negative, broken family stereotype. In doing so, we’ve preserved our sanity and ensured that our children are as unaffected by divorce as humanly possible.” If you aren’t familiar with it, check it out. Even if you don’t have children, it’s worth a visit to these lovely ladies’ site.

The Los Angeles Times’ “Custody Case of Long Beach Boy complicates deportation of illegal immigrant” - If you or someone you know is living in the United States illegally and involved in a divorce or custody dispute, this article points out the immigration complications that may arise.

Lastly, the latest celebrity divorce news is: Madonna and Guy Ritchie are NOT getting a divorce!!! We’ll see how it all pans out. If they do get divorced, they won’t be the first celebrity couple to deny rumors and then do the D deed.