California Divorce and Family Law

Kids Keeping the Peace When Parents Divorce

Today's New York Daily News has a headline that screams Madge's Lourdes Works a Miracle. No, Madonna's teenage daughter isn't healing the sick or parting the seas. According to the paper, what Lourdes has done is even more miraculous -- she's managed to make peace between divorcing duo Madonna and Guy Ritchie.

A source tells the paper that 14-year-old Lourdes came the couple begging, "Please don't be mean to each other." The teen told her mom and Guy that she wanted everything to be as friendly as possible. According to the source, Guy and Madonna have buried the hatchet and are making every effort to make things as civil as possible for the sake of the kids.

The fact that teenage Lourdes is managing to do what even divorce lawyers can't is a definite sign of the times, according to psychologist Cooper Lawrence. Cooper, author of "The Cult of Celebrity" tells momlogic, "It's different now than when we were kids. The way they parented us is different from the way parents raise kids today. Today, kids are involved in every family decision from what car are we going to buy to what kind of dog are we going to get. You can't have it both ways -- you can't expect the child to be involved in family decisions and then all of a sudden make a life changing decision and expect the child to have no say."

Cooper also adds that watching Lourdes take an active role in her parents' divorce sends a powerful message to other children of divorce. "Lourdes is a little girl who grew up with the paparazzi as part of her public life. She has a public image and it matters what she says and does. When she says be nice to one another it sends a different message, it's influential to other kids."

But even so, Cooper cautions about having children act as peace keepers in their parents divorce. She asks parents to be careful about their behavior and warns that children should never be put in a situation where they feel they need to step in to keep the peace. "The children have nothing to do with the divorce. When you put the kid in the middle you're screwing up your kid. It's cruel. Children learn from your behavior and how you treat people."

As a rule, Cooper tells momlogic that parents need to keep the arguments to themselves; no child should have to hear you badmouth, fight or yell at each other. "Some kids take this stuff personally. You don't want the kids to somehow think that the divorce is their fault -- and even if you say that it's not, if you continually bad mouth your ex to the child, you're sending the message that somehow the child is involved."

And above all, remember, although you want to be your child's friend, you are first and foremost a parent. Don't use this as an opportunity to talk about what went wrong in your relationship, that's not a conversation any parents should have with a child. Cooper explains, "Don't talk to the kids about the divorce except for conversations about their own feelings. You have to reassure them that it's going to be ok. Mommy and daddy might not love each other any more but we both love you."

From MomLogic.com.

Pads owner hires Goldman Sachs to help with sale

Padres owner John Moores has hired Goldman Sachs to search for a potential buyer as he goes through a divorce from his wife, Becky.

"Goldman will look at offers and make recommendations," Moores said in an e-mail Monday to The Associated Press. "I have been told that, because these are difficult economic times, I should be prepared for a wide range of interest and offers.

"Needless to say, San Diego is a very attractive place to own a baseball team," he said.

The hiring of Goldman Sachs was first reported by MLB.com.

The owner didn't say what percentage of the team would be up for sale.

John Moores, who made a fortune in computer software, bought a controlling stake in the Padres for approximately $80 million in 1994 from a 15-member group headed by TV producer Tom Werner. Werner later became a co-owner of the Boston Red Sox.

The Moores' reportedly own 90 percent of the team. Because of community property laws in California, Becky Moores shares 50 percent of that asset and must agree to any sale. Their daughter, Jennifer, owns five percent and the other five percent is owned by Glenn Doshay, a San Diego businessman, mlb.com reported.

The Padres are going through a salary dump in large part because of the divorce. They're trying to pare their player payroll from about $72 million last year to around $40 million this year.

San Diego, which lost 99 games last year, has tried unsuccessfully to trade ace Jake Peavy, who is due to make $11 million in 2009. San Diego shed $6.5 million by trading shortstop Khalil Greene to St. Louis and pulled a $4 million offer to all-time saves leader Trevor Hoffman.

From USA Today.

Madonna Hires Divorce Lawyer?

Could the rumors be true? Is Madonna done with Guy Ritchie? According to UK's Holy Moly, Madge has reportedly hired Britain's toughest divorce lawyer, Nicholas Mostyn QC.

Madonna and Guy have been dodging breakup rumors for a while now so this isn't exactly shocking news but the odd twist it that the report claims Madge and Guy didn't have a pre-nup. Say what you will about Madonna, but she's one smart businesswoman. There is no way in hell she would get married without a pre-nup.

Apparently the couple has just "grown apart" over the years and "The adoption of David Banda attracted a huge wave of negative publicity, allegedly putting further strain on the relationship."

Madge met with Mostyn about 10 days ago to allegedly discuss the divorce proceedings. What do you guys think?
From Hollyscope.com.

The McGreeveys are talking settlement

James E. McGreevey and his estranged wife spent this morning in settlement talks, making a last minute attempt to resolve their bitter breakup on the day the divorce trial was to scheduled to begin, court officials said.

The settlement talks began at 9:30 a.m., broke for lunch at 1 p.m. and focused on the contentious issues fueling the very public feud between Dina Matos McGreevey and the former governor, said Sandra Thaler-Gerber, spokeswoman for the state Superior Court in Union County. The talks were scheduled to resume at 2 p.m.

"We are trying to see if there will be a settlement," Thaler-Gerber said.

The former governor was scheduled to testify today as part of the trial's custody phase, which is not open to the public.

But the settlement talks have superseded the start of the trial, Thaler-Gerber said.

"Everybody is hopeful. You want there to be a settlement," Thaler-Gerber said.

McGreevey is seeking to have 50-50 custody of Jacqueline, asking the judge to have the girl alternate weeks living with him in Plainfield and her mother in Springfield. Matos McGreevey has asked to continue the couple's current arrangement: She gets custody while he gets liberal visitation rights, including alternating weekends and some holidays.

In addition to the custody issue, Matos McGreevey wants alimony and support. McGreevey is paying $2,500 a month in support, but Matos McGreevey wants any permanent amount to be higher. McGreevey claims he has very little money, makes $50,000 a year, and is unlikely to make more because he is a seminary student aiming to be a priest.

Matos McGreevey is a fundraiser for Columbus Hospital Foundation and earns $82,000 a year.

Matos McGreevey also sued McGreevey for fraud for not revealing to her that he was gay before they married. Matos McGreevey wants $600,000 in damages for the year she did not live in the governor's mansion.

The McGreeveys married in October 2000. They publicly separated in November 2004 -- three months after McGreevey resigned as governor and announced to the world that he is gay and that he had an affair with a male aide.

McGreevey, 50, filed for divorce in February 2007 after a settlement agreement fell apart. Matos McGreevey, 41, lives in Springfield. McGreevey lives in Plainfield with his partner, Mark O'Donnell.

From the Newark Star Ledger.

Strahan divorce lawyer tells appeal court divorce ruling was "absurd"

Giants defensive end Michael Strahan has taken his messy divorce to a new venue.

He's asking a state appeals court to reduce the $14 million that a lower court ordered him to pay his ex-wife.

Michael Strahan's lawyer, Angelo Genova, argued that it was "absurd" for a court to award his ex-wife so much.

A prenuptial agreement called for her to receive half their joint assets and 20 percent of his earnings if they divorced. But Genova says Strahan should not be penalized because he did not set aside that amount.

The judges in Morristown questioned Jean Strahan's lawyers about whether her ex is paying too much.

Strahan was not in court Wednesday's appeal hearing, but his ex was.

More in Newsday.

Robin Williams wife files for divorce: agent

Robin Williams' wife has filed for divorce from the Oscar-winning actor after a 19-year marriage, a spokeswoman for the actor confirmed on Wednesday.

Marsha Garces Williams filed for divorce petition at a court in San Francisco on March 21 citing irreconcilable differences, reports said.

Williams' representative, Mara Buxbaum, confirmed the divorce in an email to AFP.

Garces, 51, and Williams, 56, married in 1989, shortly after the actor's divorce from his previous wife. The couple have two children, an 18-year-old daughter and a 16-year-old son.

Garces has worked as a producer on several of Williams films including "Jakob the Liar", "Patch Adams," and "Mrs. Doubtfire."

Williams won a best supporting actor Oscar for his role in the 1997 film "Good Will Hunting" and has been nominated for an Academy Award for three other movies: "Good Morning Vietnam," "The Fisher King," and "Dead Poets Society."

Source: AFP.

Divorce costs former Beatle McCartney $48.7 million

A British court ordered former Beatle Paul McCartney on Monday to pay his estranged wife Heather Mills 24.3 million pounds ($48.7 million) after an acrimonious divorce battle.

The settlement was only a fifth of the sum she had sought but she still ended up with the equivalent of about $34,000 for each day of her four-year marriage to the pop icon.

Speaking after the judge's ruling, Mills said: "I am so glad it is over. It is an incredible result in the end.

"We are very, very pleased," she added. "I am so, so happy with it." McCartney declined to comment.

McCartney, 65, married the former model and charity campaigner Mills, 40, in 2002 but they separated four years later, blaming media intrusion into their private lives. They have a daughter, Beatrice, aged four.

Following one of the most bitter divorce battles in show business history, the couple failed to reach an agreement after six days in court last month, leaving the judge to set the final figure.

Mills criticized McCartney's lawyer Fiona Shackleton, accusing her of handling the case badly.

She said Shackleton, who also represented heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles in his divorce from Princess Diana, "has called me many, many names before even meeting me, when I was in a wheelchair."

Mills, who sacked her lawyer and represented herself in court, urged would-be divorcees to do the same. "You can be a litigating person," she said. "You'd save yourself a fortune."

Justice Hugh Bennett, giving details of the settlement, said: "She sought an award of almost 125 million pounds. Sir Paul proposed the wife should exit the marriage with assets of 15.8 million pounds inclusive of any lump sum award.

"The judgment decided that the husband should pay the wife a lump sum of 16.5 million pounds, which together with her assets of 7.8 million pounds means that she exits her marriage with total assets of 24.3 million pounds."

DAUGHTER

The split was fought out under a remorseless media spotlight with McCartney, a founder of the world's most famous pop group, pitted against the outspoken Mills, target of lurid tales in the press about her colorful past.

The court ruled that the judgment be made public, but stayed publication pending Mills' appeal against it being made public.

Mills, speaking to a phalanx of reporters on the steps of London's High Court, said she was appealing "because the judgment involves private secure matters of my daughter."

Referring to what their daughter would receive, Mills said: "Beatrice only gets 35,000 pounds a year. So obviously she's meant to travel B Class while her father travels A class, but obviously I will pay for that."

Asked if she now planned to move abroad, Mills said: "I can't leave England. I always wanted to keep my daughter near her father. Believe me if I tried to go, he would have an injunction on me in a second."

Source: Reuters.

Shaq's Expenses Revealed In Divorce Court...$26,560 a month in babysitters??

Shaquille O'Neal, 35, and wife Shaunie are in the middle of divorce proceedings which they filed in September after five years of marriage.

His monthly expenses are $1.3-million a month, according to court records obtained by CBS4 news partners The Miami Herald. 

Consider Miami Heat center's monthly expenditures:

• $156,116 on mortgages.

• $110,505 on vacations.

• $60,417 on gifts.

• $26,560 on baby-sitters.

• $24,300 on gasoline.

• $22,190 on maids.

• $17,220 on clothes.

• $12,775 on food.

And the tax man gets about $500,000 a month in income taxes.

The couple has four children, and each partner has one child from previous relationships.

At $20 million a year, O'Neal is the second-highest paid NBA player, behind only the Boston Celtics' Kevin Garnett.

From CBS4.

Bobby Brown Tries To Overturn Whitney Houston Divorce, Is Denied

Yesterday, singer Bobby Brown's attempt to overturn his divorce with Whitney Houston in Orange County Court was denied.  A judge in California turned down Brown's request to change the terms ex-wife pop   diva Whitney Houston set forth in their divorce case.  Why? Brown didn't show up.

"His motion was denied because there were no appearances or phone calls from Mr. Brown today for a scheduled hearing," a spokeswoman for the Orange County Court said.  "As of now, there are no more pending court dates in this case."

In April, Houston was awarded sole custody of their daughter, 14-year-old Bobbi Kristina, after a default judgment left Brown with visitation rights and no financial awards.  Bobby sued Whitney a month later over the terms, but failed to show up for subsequent court dates.

Source: Connie Talk.   

Billionaire Marriages: Why Get Hitched?

With Google CEO Larry Page's wedding planned for Dec. 8, BusinessWeek takes a look at what billionaires risk when they tie the knot

Google co-founder and Chief Executive Larry  Page's wedding this weekend is supposed to be a secret affair. But his own search engine is undermining the effort. A recent Google search for "Larry Page marriage" revealed a number of details about the event. Page will definitely be married on Dec. 8 to a woman named Lucy Southworth at an "undisclosed location." According to one blog post, Page might be married on Necker Island, Richard Branson's 74-acre estate in the British Virgin Islands.

In this Web-friendly age, billionaires, politicians, and others who live in the public eye have a hard time keeping information about their lives private. Because the public is so interested in the marriages of the rich and famous, every detail of a billionaire's personal life—from courtship to wedding to, if they're unlucky, divorce—ends up shooting through millions of fused networks and popping up on millions of strangers' computer screens. It's true if you're Bill Gates of Microsoft, Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway, or Oprah Winfrey of Harpo Entertainment. Page is no exception.

Yes, the rich really are different from you and me. For most people, a wedding is a simple, joyous occasion. Family and friends gather to celebrate the ceremonial joining of you and your true love. For billionaires it's more complicated, with stresses and strains that others don't bear. They don't just have to choose a florist and a band; they usually need a good lawyer, too.

Marriage Means Business

Attorneys familiar with billionaire marriages urge their clients to proceed with care and caution. "A billionaire has to treat an upcoming marriage as a merger. But it's a merger with a potential enemy," says New York divorce lawyer Raoul Felder.

Prenuptial agreements are important, but they're no guarantee of a satisfactory split if things go south. Consider the divorce of Steven Spielberg, now at DreamWorks Animation, and his first wife Amy Irving. She claimed their prenup was invalid because it had been written on a napkin and she hadn't had legal representation. A judge tossed it out; Irving got $100 million.

The prenup of Bob Johnson, the founder of Black Entertainment Television, held up, but it still cost him plenty. He agreed to a deal with his wife, Sheila Johnson, in which she would receive half of their assets if they split up. By the time they did get divorced in 2002, his media empire was worth billions—and she got her half. "Very rich people have trouble sometimes knowing exactly what they're worth," says Felder. "Worth is often ephemeral."

Valuations are tricky, too. Donald Schiller, of Chicago's Schiller, Du Canto & Fleck, the nation's largest matrimonial law firm, says valuing a billionaire's worth is particularly complicated when real estate and other privately held property is involved. "You can't evaluate them the same way you can evaluate assets traded on the New York Stock Exchange," he says.

Dishing Dirt

Another issue that comes with prenups is privacy. Agreements can include confidentiality clauses to prevent one of the parties involved from giving out information about a marriage in case of divorce. That can mean barring anything from TV interviews about the ex to writing a book. "Prenuptials often waive a spouse's rights to develop intellectual property from details of the marriage," says Schiller.

He continued, "If it's a well-done premarital agreement and well-documented, the person trying to get out of it could end up with a lot less [if he or she goes public]," Schiller says. "You have to make it…very expensive…for somebody to give a lot of personal information out to the public."

Friendly Divorces Are Rare

It's possible to have an amicable divorce, even if you're a billionaire. When Tim Blixseth, the billionaire founder of the Yellowstone Club, split from his wife, Edra, in 2006, they divided up $2 billion in combined net worth in a single afternoon.

But that is the exception. You're more likely to see a high-profile mudfest like the one Roman Abramovitch, the Russian oil magnate, got into in March, 2007. His wife, Irina, learned that Roman was dating a 23-year-old Russian model, Daria Zhukova. Irina hired two prominent British lawyers, filed for divorce, and ended up with half of her husband's assets.

Given all of the billionaire marriages that have ended badly, Larry Page may well have a prenup ready before he takes his vows on Dec. 8. Money doesn't buy happiness, even if you're capable of spending billions.

Still, Page could give up half his wealth and still be plenty rich. With Google's stock trading near $700, his stake in the search engine is worth nearly $20 billion.

From Businessweek.