The second man to walk on the moon and Dancing with the Stars alum, Buzz Aldrin, is separating from his wife, Lois Driggs Cannon after 23 years of marriage. He and Driggs Cannon, his third wife, married on Valentine's Day, 1988. In his Los Angeles County divorce filing, Aldrin blames "irreconcilable differences" for their marriage's failure. He filed just two days after the couple separated.
Last month, Marie Claire published a story on "manimony" -- what it terms the divorce payouts many of Hollywood's highest-paid female stars end up paying in support and lump-sum payments to their exes when they divorce.
A few of the highlights: Sandra Bullock quickly filed for divorce from Jesse James last year, and he refused spousal support, which he wasn't entitled to in Texas, where they divorced; when Madonna and director Guy Ritchie separated in 2008, she gave him almost one-fifth of her estimated net worth of $500 million for a divorce; comedian Roseanne Barr ignored the advice of her attorney in 1990 when she decided against a pre-nup with Tom Arnold, leading her to shelling out a reported $50 million after their 1994 divorce.
Continue reading "Magazine Looks at Cost of Divorce for Hollywood's Women" »
According to a new report released by the US Census Bureau, more Americans are waiting longer to get married, with many living together and others just getting choosier. In 2009, about 47% of women aged 25-29 have never married, almost double the 26% reported in 1986. The "most noticeable changes in marital patterns" is in the increase in the age of couples at their first marriage.
The youngest brides were most likely to be Hispanic, with only about 35% aged 25-29 reporting never marrying; black women were the least likely to marry between 25-29, with less than 30% reporting marrying.
In a decision that overturned a lower court's ruling, Massachusetts' Court of Appeals ruled earlier this week that a retired Air Force officer's pension should be treated as a marital asset, rather than as income in cases of divorce. In his ruling, the judge ruled that retired USAF Lt. Col. Michael S. Casey's after-tax pension of $867 per week should be treated as income in his divorce from his wife of 17 years, Deanne E. Casey.
In their decision, the Appeals Court noted that the US Supreme Court leaves states to decide whether to treat pensions as income or a marital asset. The justices Ms. Casey, a nurse, sacrificed her career for her then-husband, who spent much of his career as a NATO staffer in Europe.
Continue reading "Massachusetts Appeals Court Says Military Pension is Marital" »
The executive chairman of London-based Gulf Keystone Petroleum, Todd Kozel, has had his shares in the oil company frozen as he is engulfed in a bitter divorce battle with his wife, Ashley. According to filings with the Sarasota, Florida circuit court handling the matter, the Court has place an asset injunction on Kozel's 0.49% shareholding in the Iraq-focused oil and gas explorer. His 3.7 million shares are currently worth upwards of $10 million.
Kozel's wife alleges that he has additional GKP stock, worth up to $150 million, that he tucked away in trusts as part of "divorce planning." Her legal team estimates that she is entitled to as much as $100 million in a combination of assets and money.
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Ajit Kumar Bhargava, his wife, Nisha Bhargava, and their daughter, Runjhun Bhargava of Yorba Linda, California were arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement last week on suspicion of visa fraud at their Cerritos-based immigration consulting business. The three, who face up to five years in federal prison, are suspected of filing fraudulent marriage and work visa petitions on behalf of foreigners who paid fees as high as $60,000.
According to federal officials, the three operate an immigration consulting business, called MPEagle Consultants, which caters primarily to Indian nationals. They are accused of recruiting unemployed and low-income U.S. citizens with promises of $2,000 payments in exchange for marrying MPEagle's foreign clients.
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Remember those television commercials in which the voice over informed viewers that this was there brain on drugs before an egg was cracked in a hot skillet? In a new study published in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, researchers took that concept to a new level when it took brain scans of long-married people who claimed to still be in love with their marital partners.
The researchers, from New York's Stony Brook University, took fMRI scans of people, married an average of 21 years, as they looked at pictures of their spouses. Like newly in-love couples, the participants' brains showed similar activity in dopamine-rich areas. Unlike those newly in love, though, scans failed to show activity in the areas of the brain associated with anxiety and fear.
Continue reading "20 Years After Marriage, What a Brain Looks Like" »
Researchers at Elon University have released findings from a poll indicating that more residents of North Carolina believe that gay couples should have the same domestic rights as their straight counterparts. In fact, more than one-half said they support legal recognition of same-sex couples, while only 35% of respondents opposed any legal recognition for same-sex partners, down from 44% just two years ago.
"That's a substantial move," said Elon Poll Director Hunter Bacot. "We're seeing people becoming more comfortable with the issue." 28% of the respondents support full marriage rights, whereas 29% support civil unions or partnerships for gays, but not full civil rights.
Continue reading "Survey Finds North Carolinians Open to Increased Domestic Rights for Gays" »
There's always been an assumption that a bad economy leads to more divorces, but is this a true? Earlier this month, the National Marriage Project released findings from a survey of over 1,000 married Americans , aged 18-45, regarding the state of their marriages in relation to the economy. Of the respondents, about one-third indicated that the economic downturn had, indeed, affected their marriage. But a similar number reported that the economic strain had actually strengthened their marriage.
The report also found that about 38% who had been considering divorce before the economic downturn decided to stick it out. Some observers theorize that people are remaining married, not because of a desire to remain together, but because of the financial impact a divorce causes.
Continue reading "Does a Bad Economy Increase Divorce Filings?" »
Chelsea Clinton, daughter of former President Bill Clinton and current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, is reportedly over just six months after it began if stories in the National Enquirer have any truth to them. The thirty-year-old and her husband are said to have gotten into a fight over starting a family.
That was three months ago - before her husband, Marc Mezvinsky, quit his hedge fund job with 3G Capital Management and took off for an extended ski vacation in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The magazine also claims Ms. Clinton is seeking an annulment with the help of her father's influence.
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With the 26th Judicial District being home to the largest Family Court, Charlotte, North Carolina sees a great deal of litigation regarding the contractual viability of Separation Agreements. In Johnson v. Johnson, the North Carolina Court of Appeals deemed Separation Agreements as "special agreements" that warrant equity's intervention, even in the absence of actual fraud, if the Agreement is manifestly unfair or obtained during duress.
Under Garris v. Garris, the North Carolina Court of Appeals held that Separation Agreements may be set aside if they are "unconscionable" in light of all the facts and circumstances. As convoluted as the law can be, one might ask himself what this really mean? Well, the court in Garris went on to say that "Unconscionability involves both procedural and substantive unfairness.
Continue reading "Can a Separation Agreement be Overturned in North Carolina?" »
If you are currently involved in litigation for Equitable Distribution or know that it is likely that litigation will occur, you will be required to produce an extremely large amount of information for discovery procedures in North Carolina.
In addition to mandatory discovery requirements for Equitable Distribution in Charlotte- Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, opposing Attorneys are usually entitled to compel you to produce each and every financial document that exists relating to business entities that you are involved in as well as bank and credit card statements for each and every account you are listed upon.
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Out of all family law claims, Equitable Distribution is by far the most complex to deal with. In Charlotte, North Carolina as well as surrounding jurisdictions, Family Law Attorneys are bound to file an Equitable Distribution Financial Affidavit within 60 days from the initial filing of a complaint that prays for Equitable Distribution. The opposing party must then serve a response within 30 days.
Most jurisdictions within North Carolina use a different affidavit for Equitable Distribution cases; however, most are very similar in context. During an Equitable Distribution trial, a court must Identify, Classify, Value and Divide/Distribute all marital assets and debt. The Affidavit, usually 30 to 40 pages in length, allows each party to identify property thought to be marital or separate; classify whether a piece of property is separate, marital or divisible; value the property; and inform the court on how he or she would like the property to be distributed.
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When Steven Simkin and Laura Blank divorced in 2006 in New York, she received $6.2 million as part of their divorce settlement. But the settlement was made on the reliance that Mr. Simkin's investment account was worth $5.4 million. The couple based the figure on filings made by Bernie Madoff's Ponzi-scheme.
Turns out, there wasn't an account to be divvied, and $2.7 million of the $6.2 million award didn't exist. Simkin wants his ex-wife to refund that money to him. In court filings, Simkin argued that the two made a "mutual mistake" when they divided their estate. A state appeals court, in a 3-2 decision, agreed with Simkin.
Continue reading "Madoff Investor Seeks to Recoup Money from Divorce Settlement" »
New Yorker Susan Williams was convicted of Conspiracy in the Second Degree and Possession of a Forged Instrument after prosecutors successfully argued she had hatched a plan to have her husband killed.
Williams met with a private investigator in February 2009 and informed him that she wanted her husband "to disappear." The PI, who she had used to investigate her husband during their divorce, clued authorities in to Ms. Williams' plot.
With a promise to pay $20,000 upon completion of the job, Williams gave an undercover detective a $500 down payment, photos of her husband, and his work address.
Continue reading "Jury Convicts Woman of Plot to Have Her Husband Murdered" »
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