This week’s latest celebrity divorce news features the ongoing negotiations of the world’s best golfer as he separates from his wife, and the tell-all interview with Jesse James, the cheating ex of actress Sandra Bullock.

There was a lot of speculation about what the wife of Tiger Woods, Elin Nordegren, would pursue as a part of her divorce negotiations with Woods. Her public role as wife to the cheating superstar athlete found her the subject of paparazzi and celebrity watchers monitoring the property she purchased in her home country of Sweden, and whether or not she accompanied Tiger to his apology press conference or his golf tournaments.

The speculation is now becoming reality, and Woods, who is a worth many millions of dollars as a result of golf winnings and endorsements and sponsorships, is getting a sense of where these divorce dealings might lead.

The latest news from the New York Daily News reports that the dollar figure that Nordegren is currently pursuing is $750 million. Tiger Woods has yet to agree to the hefty financial deal. Sources say, though, that if he were to agree to it, he would require a complete confidentiality clause for Nordegren. And the word is that he would want her to keep mum about their relationship forever.

Nordegren has so far declined such an offer. A confidentiality clause would prevent her from writing a book, or holding interviews about their marriage and divorce.

Nordegren is also reportedly asking for full custody of the couple’s children. Earlier speculation was that she and Tiger would share custody.

Apparently the divorce negotiations have become contentious. A source told the Daily News that the proceedings “have turned extremely testy.” The couple is apparently no longer speaking with one another.

While Tiger Woods has spent time in Florida and playing in golf tournaments, Nordegren has spent time alone in Arizona, and she took her children on a trip to Sweden recently.

Another celebrity who admitted cheating on his wife, motorcycle builder Jesse James, recently sat for a tell-all interview with ABC’s Nightline to discuss his relationship with and split from star actress Sandra Bullock.

According to People Magazine, James admitted in the interview that he knew he would be caught, and that some part of himself wanted to be caught.

“When I was doing it,” he told ABC, “you know, one, I knew it was horrible, it made me feel horrible. And two, I knew I would get caught eventually, and I think I wanted to get caught. It was me trying to self-sabotage my life.”

The West Coast Choppers owner went on to explain his desire to protect Bullock and his children, and that his own actions and infidelities in fact caused her greatest hurt. “The most hurt she’s ever been caused,” said James, “is by the person that wanted to protect her.”

The interview will air soon, and in it James will go on at further length about what Bullock may have known about his affairs, what he went to rehab for, and how he will be involved in the life of Bullock’s recently adopted son, People reports.

Copyright © 2010 TotalDivorce, LLC. (as licensee). All rights reserved.

There is a myth that circulates among the community of parents of autistic children saying that the divorce rate among such families is 80 percent.

However, a new study has debunked that myth, showing that divorce rates are in fact similar between families with and without autistic children, WebMD is reporting.

The study came out of the Center for Autism and Related Disorders at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore. The study’s researcher and the center’s clinical director, Brian Freedman, PhD, said that “there really weren’t any significant differences in terms of family structure when you consider children with autism and those without.”

He went on to explain that children with autism stayed with both of their biological or adoptive parents 64 percent of the time. In families without autistic children, that number is 65 percent, a very similar outcome. “That debunks the myth of an 80 percent divorce rate,” said Freedman. The divorce rate for first marriages in the U.S. is about half that, around 40 percent, according to WebMD.

Freedman will present the findings of the study at the International Meeting for Autism Research, which will take place in Philadelphia. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a group of disorders, including autism, Asperger’s syndrome and other disorders that lead to problems navigating social relationships and communication. About one in every 110 children in the U.S. have autism.

Freedman hopes that the new data culled from his survey can alleviate some anxiety on the part of parents with autistic children. With the families that he counsels, Freedman has felt that they feel the pressure of two diagnoses: their child’s autism, and their own impending divorce.

“They talk about how disheartening that [80 percent divorce rate rumor] is,” said Freedman, “and how their relationship seems doomed.”

Freedman’s hope is that the latter concern, fueled by the rumor, will not continue to trouble parents in these situations. He also acknowledged that there are certainly stresses that come with being the parent of an autistic child, and that it’s this stress that may have started the rumors about a high divorce rates.

In his study, Freedman evaluated data from a 2007 study by the National Survey of Children’s Health, that sampled almost 80,000 children aged 3 to 17. The factors he looked at were whether children lived in households with two parents, single parents, step-parents and so on.

It was in checking this data that he determined that the rates of autistic children living in alternative homes—with step-parents or away from one of their adoptive or biological parents—were very similar to those of non-autistic children.

These results held true even when other factors were accounted for, like socioeconomic status and other demographics.

Nor did the severity of the autism show an impact on divorce rates.

There was an increase when other psychiatric or other problems were present, like ADHD or other serious behavioral problems. Still, Freedman said, the rise in these rates did not impact the debunking of the 80 percent divorce rate myth.

Copyright © 2010 TotalDivorce, LLC. (as licensee). All rights reserved.

A high-profile divorce could impact a major producer of electric cars, according to an article from Reuters.

The article outlines the divorce requests made by Justine Musk. Musk is splitting from Elon Musk, the co-founder and largest shareholder of Tesla Motors, a car start-up that offers high-performance roadsters powered only by electricity.

The demands that she is making could change the shareholder balance of the company, and it could get Justine a fine electric automobile.

In her divorce demands, Justine is asking for around $6 million, 10 percent of Elon’s stake in the company, and a Tesla Roadster costing over $100,000. She is also asking for a 5 percent stake in Elon’s space exploration company, SpaceX, and child support for their five children.

Justine threw a curveball into the mix when she began blogging openly about her divorce demands. “I really, really want one,” she said of the Roadster in a blog post. The Tesla Roadster accelerates more quickly than a Ferrari, and has a range of 300 miles before it needs another charge.

Justine, who is an author who pens supernatural thrillers with titles including “Blood Angel” and “Uninvited,” titled a post on her blog “Golddigger,” presumably as a joke, and offered some of her thoughts on her situation, the divorce and her demands. “Is this what I deserve?” she wrote candidly in a May 8 missive. “I don’t know. Who exactly deserves that kind of wealth? But based on our life and history together, is that reasonable? I think so.”

If Justine were to be rewarded what she is requesting, it could have ramifications for Tesla operations. Elon had been planning to take the company public, and to keep $465 million in funding from the U.S. government to create a mass-market electric car model, the Model S.

If Justine were to receive some of Elon’s 81 million shares of Tesla stock, it could put his retention of the government loan in jeopardy. Tesla’s regulatory filing with the government stipulates that he own a particular number of shares or it could go into default.

According to Tesla spokesman Ricardo Reyes, they have no plans to alter their existing filing with the government.

In an earlier blog post, Justine stated that she would be willing to discuss a settlement with her estranged husband if he was willing to do the same. “Here’s hoping for a fair and amicable conclusion,” she wrote.

Justine has won an early stage of the divorce dispute, but it has been passed along to an appeals court, and could be the beginning of an extended dispute process. An issue arose over an agreement signed just after the two were married, and whether that agreement is determined as valid or not. If it is not valid, then Justine would be eligible for half of the couple’s community property.

As for her blog, Justine continues to offer her thoughts. “I am now,” she posted recently, “that woman in a ‘messy and publicized’ divorce. That is not something that you plan or expect to become.”

Copyright © 2010 TotalDivorce, LLC. (as licensee). All rights reserved.

Divorce has a way of heightening emotional stress. Often people in the midst of divorce act as a result of their passions, rather than reason. And in a few situations, the result of stress and anger is extreme violence.

Two of these stories have emerged from across the U.S. this week. One story out of Chicago ended in tragedy, as an estranged husband ended his own life and those of family members.

In another story out of Atlanta, a husband and stepfather is still on the run after a mother and daughter were found slain.

The story out of Chicago began when the estranged husband, who was upset about a potential divorce, told the children at his wife’s home to go upstairs before doing the unthinkable: he shot his wife and a friend of hers in the kitchen, then moved to the bedroom and shot himself.

The three deaths came in the late evening. The husband had gone down into the basement of his estranged wife’s house and told the group of children, all under 12 years old, spending time there to go upstairs. They did not witness the shootings.

The gunman did not live at the house. He was angry, apparently, over the break-up with his wife and the divorce that was to follow. It was unclear if the wife and her friend, who was male, were in a romantic relationship. They each suffered a gunshot wound to the head, while the husband suffered a gunshot wound to the chest and to the head, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

The three remain unidentified. The gunman had no history of domestic violence, and he didn’t appear to have left a note. The incident occurred on Chicago’s Southwest Side.

In Atlanta, a man who had recently been served divorce papers is a suspect in the murder of his wife Lynnale Baker and her 19-year-old daughter ShaeLinda Sanders. Kenneth Baker is currently at-large, with police searching for him. He is considered by law enforcement to be armed and dangerous, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

Friends of the victims remember them as being well-loved. “She was an angel,” said Julia Pattillo about Lynnale Baker. “She was like a second mother to me. She always made it known that no matter how down you were about yourself, you were beautiful.”

Sanders would have graduated from high school this month. “She had a very big heart,” Pattillo said of her friend. “We could go to Wal-Mart and she would make it the funnest place on earth.”

After 1 p.m. on the day of the shooting, Kenneth Baker himself called 911 to tell police what he had done. “He told a relative he had killed his wife and stepdaughter,” said Griffin police chief Frank Strickland. Officers arrived at the home to find the women slain.

A week before, Lynnale had served her husband with divorce papers. Trouble had been brewing long before that, however. “He and (Sanders’) mother were always fighting,” said a classmate of ShaeLinda’s. “When they did, she would have to find somebody to talk to.”
Police retrieved Kenneth Baker’s 12-year-old son from school, and he is now in protective custody.

Copyright © 2010 TotalDivorce, LLC. (as licensee). All rights reserved.

A Chicago judge has ordered that the estranged wife of Miami Heat star basketball player Dwayne Wade be taken into custody, according to an article in USA Today.

The order came after Siohvaughn Wade failed to appear for a divorce hearing. Once she is taken into custody, Siovaughn will have to post a $10,000 bond in order to be released. According to the sheriff’s department, they wouldn’t know when the order would be carried out.

Cook County Circuit Judge Marya Nega said that she was tired of Siovaughn’s behavior during the tumultuous divorce from her basketball star husband. “When things don’t go according to Mrs. Wade’s way all of a sudden the phone’s turned off,” said Judge Nega, revealing her exasperation as Siovaughn’s attorney explained that she had not been able to contact her client.

The judge said that Siovaughn had disregarded court orders in the past, including an order to ensure that the couple’s children spoke with their father every day. Nega also cited the childrens’ absence from school the previous week, where Dwayne’s sister was supposed to pick them up, as ordered by the judge.

Dwayne Wade’s attorney was planning to request that Dwayne received physical custody of the couple’s children, two boys aged 8 and 2, on the day that Siovaughn did not appear in court.

Judge Nega stated that she was concerned about the impact of the divorce on the children. She hinted that she was considering giving custody of them to Dwayne.

“Maybe it’s time for the kids to go live with Dad for a month or two,” she said.
Recently, Siovaughn filed a lawsuit claiming that Dwayne’s relationship with the actress Gabrielle Union was, according to USA Today, “causing the couple’s son emotional distress, alleging, for example, that Wade and Union ‘engaged in sexual foreplay’ in front of the boys.”

Dwayne Wade responded to the lawsuit by calling it “baseless and meritless.” Following the latest divorce hearing, Dwayne’s lawyer, James Pritikin, stated that he would like Siovaughn to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.

Pritikin said that Siovaughn has repeatedly thwarted Dwayne from visiting their kids or from talking with them on the phone. She had even, according to Pritikin, called the police on Dwayne when he arrived at the couple’s home to pick up the children. She falsely claimed, said Pritikin, that there was a warrant out for Dwayne’s arrest.

Pritikin also requested that the state’s attorney’s office launch a criminal investigation of Siovaughn. Documents from his office claimed that Siovaughn was “unstable, dishonest, and unbalanced,” and that for the kids to spend more time with her “would seriously endanger the minor children’s physical, mental, moral and emotional health.”

Siovaughn’s attorney did attempt to take some of the blame. Marsha Fisher said that she was in a car accident recently, and that because of that Siovaughn may have thought that she didn’t have to appear in court. The judge was dismissive of this claim, however.

Dwayne Wade, who is a Chicago native, has played in the NBA since 2003. He was drafted in the first round of the NBA Draft, out of Marquette University. In 2005-06, he led the Miami Heat to an NBA Championship.

Copyright © 2010 TotalDivorce, LLC. (as licensee). All rights reserved.

Jo Ann Fonzone, of Allentown, Pennsylvania, has been attempting to divorce former Van Halen lead singer David Lee Roth for the last four years. The seeming hang-up in the case? Roth’s representation claims that he’s never been married to her.

According to an article in The Morning Call, the David Lee Roth case is but one of nearly two dozen lawsuits that Fonzone, representing herself as attorney each time, has filed since 1997. In all, 18 defendants have found themselves implicated in her complaints, lawsuits and appeals in federal and county courts. In addition, the filing fees for many of these cases have been waived by the courts, because Fonzone can’t afford them.

Fonzone has been successful in two of the cases that she has presented.
Fonzone, 51, claims to have met Roth at New York University in the late 1970s. She also claims that she married him in 1983.

The story gets a bit more strange, as she claims that at the time Roth went by the name Cary J. Woods. According to court documents, Fonzone did in fact graduate from NYU in 1980, and there was a Cary J. Woods there as well, whose birthday matched the one that Fonzone listed for him in her lawsuit, who graduated in 1979.

Fonzone claimed that she was unaware that the person that she married was David Lee Roth until 1993, even though she had gone to a Van Halen concert in Los Angeles during her marriage. She thought, according to her suit, that Roth was an entertainment agent working with the William Morris agency.
“He’s the master of disguise,” she said of Roth in an interview.

Fonzone goes on to claim that Roth abused her during their relationship, and that he stole money via identity theft. According to her, Roth stole her Social Security number and used it “to gain a $50 million credit line.”

Apparently Fonzone has attempted to send divorce papers to Cary J. Woods, who is a filmmaker and who has worked for the William Morris agency in the past. That agency represents Van Halen, as well. Woods did not reply to The Morning Call’s attempts to contact him.

Fonzone says that she does not have any pictures of herself with David Lee Roth, or a marriage certificate because she left them in California in 1993 when she departed.

Roth’s publicist, Elaine Schock, said that she was dubious whether Roth and Fonzone had ever met, despite Fonzone’s claims. Schock called Fonzone’s claims “as false as you can get. If you are in the industry, this will happen to you.”

Schock also said that the birthday reported by Fonzone is not Roth’s, and that, to her knowledge, Roth, who goes by his birth name, has never been married. Roth, she also said, wouldn’t have been able to attend NYU in the late 1970’s as he was touring with Los Angeles-based Van Halen.

This is not the first time that Roth has been in the news without actually being involved. Schock said that the police in Canada once claimed to have saved the singer from a peanut allergy attack. It turned out to be a David Lee Roth impersonator, however, rather than the real singer.

Copyright © 2010 TotalDivorce, LLC. (as licensee). All rights reserved.

In Washington, D.C., where same-sex marriage was legalized several months ago, local attorney Lawrence Jacobs has a message for same-sex newlyweds: marriage may be legal now, but divorce may be a tougher challenge.

Five states and the District of Columbia have legalized same-sex marriage at this point, and the legal challenges of same-sex divorces are starting to emerge. According to an article from CNN, the legal complications often arise when same-sex married couples cross state lines to live in places that don’t recognize gay marriage or ban it outright.

Jacobs consults with gay couples who are thinking about getting married. He told CNN: “be careful what you ask for.”

Across the country, cases are coming up that are forcing state governments to make a stand about same-sex divorce laws.

In Texas, the attorney general is attempting to resist a gay divorce that an Austin judge had already approved. That case involves a lesbian couple that in 2004 had married in Massachusetts, where same-sex marriage is legal.

The judge in the case determined that a Texas constitutional amendment saying that marriage was a union between a man and a woman violated the federal Equal Protection Act of the Constitution. Greg Abbott, the attorney general, appealed the decision, claiming that “It would not provide the parties with finality and certainty they seek. It would subject them to the worry of protracted litigation, as well as years of legal and personal uncertainty.”

Angelique Naylor, one of the plaintiffs, disagreed, because the couple has a child and share a house. To get a divorce in Massachusetts, legally, they would have to move back to that state and spend a year establishing residence there.

In Pennsylvania, a judge turned down a petition for divorce filed by another lesbian couple that was married in Massachusetts.

Carole Kern, who was involved in the Pennsylvania case, expressed her frustration about the outcome. “I’m still legally married,” she told CNN. “If I want to marry again, I can’t.” Kern is originally from Pennsylvania, and she had gone to Massachusetts with her partner explicitly to get married there.

In Rhode Island, the top court disallowed gay divorce a few years ago.

There is also a middle ground for states in the same-sex marriage scenario.

In Maryland, for example, gay marriage is not legal. The state will, however, recognize same-sex marriages that are performed in states where they are legal. This according to a recent decision from the state’s attorney general. Some legal experts are predicting that this will enable Maryland to perform same-sex divorces.

In California, same-sex marriage was allowed for a time in 2008 before the law was repealed. Marriages performed during that time are still recognized by the state, and now there are gay marriage divorce cases period being seen in state courts.

The Constitution generally calls for states to recognize the laws of other states, and states do recognize heterosexual marriages from one to the next. In gay marriage cases, however, the rules vary more widely, and the landscape is less clear.

The problems at hand get at the heart of the gay marriage issue. If a state allows a same-sex married couple to divorce, for example, it would have to recognize the validity of the marriage.

Copyright © 2010 TotalDivorce, LLC. (as licensee). All rights reserved.

This week, several celebrity divorces made headlines, meaning the end of speculation about the relationships of Oscar winner Sandra Bullock, newsman Larry King and perpetual newsmaker Charlie Sheen.

Sandra Bullock finally filed for divorce from her husband Jesse James in Austin, Texas, after she was seen around town without her wedding ring on. James admitted to cheating on her repeatedly, including with a model who was pictured in Nazi regalia. A picture of James doing the Nazi salute also surfaced, which probably didn’t help his efforts to get stop the divorce with Bullock.

About James and that photo, Bullock told People magazine, “The photo shocked me and made me sad. This is not the man I married. This was stupid, this was ignorant. Racism, anti-Semitism, sexism, homophobia, anything Nazi and a boatload of other things have no place in my life. And the man I married felt the same.”

On the positive side, Bullock announced that she was finalizing the adoption of a baby boy, Louis. She will adopt him as a single parent, though she and James had begun the adoption process four years ago. Bullock actually took custody of Louis in January, but she kept that news out of the public eye, according to the New York Daily News. Louis was born in New Orleans, where Bullock has a home.

“He’s just perfect, I can’t even describe him any other way,” she said of her son. “It’s like he’s always been a part of our lives.”

Legendary newsman Larry King, for his part, filed for divorce from his wife Shawn Southwick after some speculation that the couple might delay the filing or work out their marriage.

Southwick was King’s seventh wife, though it was his eighth divorce, as he married and divorced Alene Akins twice.

In divorce papers filed with the L.A. County Superior Court, the 76-year-old King cited irreconcilable differences with the 50-year-old Southwick. The couple was married in 1997, and they have two sons together.

Just minutes after King was filing his divorce papers, Southwick filed her own via her divorce attorney, Joe Mannis. She also claimed irreconcilable differences in her filing. In her filing, she is asking for primary physical custody of their two children, and for child and spousal support from King.

Southwick is also claiming the Beverly Hills home that she shared with King as her separate property. According to a report, King’s filing asked that any property transfers made during the marriage be made null and void. King had transferred certain properties to his wife during their marriage.

Charlie Sheen and his wife Brooke Mueller, meanwhile, are denying rumors that they will divorce. They have publicly acknowledged marital problems, but they claim through their representatives that they are trying to work things out.

They denied rumors about a divorce, and they denied rumors about any financial agreements between the two of them.

“This is a difficult time and they need space to see if they can work things out or not,” said Mueller’s attorney, Yale Galanter.

The couple made the news over Christmas when Sheen allegedly threatened Mueller and was arrested on domestic violence charges. They current live in separate homes. They have 13-month-old twin boys together.

Copyright © 2010 TotalDivorce, LLC. (as licensee). All rights reserved.

British pop star Cheryl Cole’s singing career isn’t the only arena in which she will be going solo, however, as she has decided to pursue a divorce from Ashley Cole, soccer star for the team Chelsea in the English Premier League. Ashley has been at the center of several sex scandals, including allegations of an affair from a soccer team secretary.

Cheryl Cole expressed the hope for a “quickie” divorce. In so doing, she has told a top lawyer that the matter is taken care of quickly and quietly. She has given a list of demands for Ashley, which Marie Claire magazine called “huge.”
This list has been sent to Ashley’s legal team, allowing seven days to respond to it.

Among her demands are that Ashley submit to a lifetime gag order so that he cannot divulge any details of their relationship, ever.

Suzanne Kingston, Head of Family Law at Dawsons Solicitors told Marie Claire:

it is increasingly common for couples to enter into a confidentiality agreement when getting a divorce, irrespective of whether they are in the public eye.

Quite simply, it is in the interest of both parties not to divulge details of their married life to anyone other than their lawyers or accountants who are assisting them in the divorce process.

In addition to the gag order, Cole has requested that Ashley not contact her six months following the divorce, and that he agree to the divorce immediately. She has also asked to buy out her share of the home that they share, so that she can stay there.

In exchange for her list of demands, Cheryl has agreed not to ask for any of Ashley’s fortune. She will also report “unreasonable behavior” on the divorce documents, rather than “adultery.”

The Mirror spoke to a relationship insider about the divorce demands and Cheryl’s no-nonsense approach to the split. “Cheryl does not want a single thing from Ashley except his signature on the divorce agreement,” the source said. “She has no desire to humiliate Ashley further by citing ‘adultery’ for the divorce.”

While sources suggest that Cheryl is confident that Ashley will sign the divorce papers according to her demands, there is the possibility that he will not. According to the lawyer that Marie Claire spoke to, if one of the parties chooses not to sign the divorce pre-agreement, a public and drawn out battle in court could be the result.

MTV had reported that Cheryl may have been questioning her decision to leave Ashley after he reportedly send her gifts and attempted to woo her back with text messages claiming that he had changed his ways. Soon after, though, he was seen out partying with models and fellow athletes.

Cheryl told a friend that the two were never getting back together, according to MTV UK.

Cheryl Cole has made her name not only as the wife of professional soccer player, but as a pop star with the British musical group Girls Aloud. Top ten singles with the group led to worldwide exposure success as a solo artist.

Copyright © 2010 TotalDivorce, LLC. (as licensee). All rights reserved.