Years ago, Ruben Studdard won over Americans after a sterling performance on the second season of American Idol. Today, though, Studdard received a bit of negative publicity after sources revealed that he was filing for divorce from his wife of three years, Zuri McCants.

The Daily Mail recently reported that Studdard and his wife filed for divorce in their home state of Alabama due to “irreconcilable differences.”

In an official statement released by Studdard’s legal team, his divorce attorney said that “Ruben Studdard and Zuri McCants Studdard have separated, and they are in the process of seeking a dissolution of their marriage.”

Studdard, who defeated Clay Aiken to win the second series of the popular music competition, had dated McCants for two years before marrying her in June 2008 at Caterbury United Methodist Church in Birmingham, Alabama.

The wedding was a major event in the sleepy Alabama town, as international media converged on the festivities. Studdard, no stranger to size, also livened up the event by including 20 groomsmen in the massive affair.

While the couple goes through this difficult time, Studdard will likely have no problem finding new suitors. The 33-year-old German-born pop star earned the nickname “Velvet Teddy Bear” for his smooth vocals and portly physique.

Since narrowly winning American Idol by just 134,000 votes (out of more than 24 million total votes cast), Studdard has released millions of albums, earned millions of dollars, and been nominated for a Grammy.

Studdard and Aiken were also credited with launching American Idol to the heights it has reached today, as the show holds a lofty place in the pantheon of reality television shows in the United States.

The photogenic pairing between the large, gregarious Studdard and the waif-like Aiken captured the nation’s imagination during their several months on the small screen.

And, while Studdard gained national fame after his performance on the reality show, the residents of Birmingham may hold him in higher esteem than others across the country.

Despite the premature end to his marriage, Studdard plans to honor his commitment this week to a series of events in Birmingham aimed at raising money for his charitable foundation, which was created for the advancement of children in the musical arts.

According to the website for Studdard’s foundation, his charity was built in response to budget cuts across the country that have minimized or eliminated music programs at primary and secondary schools.

The foundation’s website says that it “aims to promote the essential role of the arts in education through learning initiatives for the development of students in the Birmingham Area.”

Thus, while his national reputation may take a minor hit, the recent divorce will likely do little to dampen the support of people in Birmingham.

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

Many people who have gone through the divorce process exit the proceedings owing their spouses some form of alimony or maintenance payments.

Undoubtedly, these payments serve as a nuisance for many divorcees. There are, however, strategies you can take to minimize the impact of your financial losses, according to a recent report from Business Insider.

First, the article notes that alimony payments are often tax deductible. In other words, each alimony payment may be subtracted from your total income each fiscal year. In addition, the spouse that receives the alimony payments must usually include qualify those as income each year.

In addition, the author observes that former married couples should make sure to file separate tax returns. If the ex-spouse who is responsible for making spousal support payments files with the other ex-spouse, he or she may lose the significant tax advantages of a separate filing.

Next, if the paying spouse is still living with the other spouse, their shared household expenses—like utilities, mortgage payments, and the like—may also prove to be a tax burden. So, after divorce, living separately may save the paying spouse a lot of money.

Another interesting piece of information relates to the form of alimony payments. Checks, money orders, or cash may be the optimal form of payment because other methods, such as transfers of property, are not tax deductible.

Further, alimony payments do not always have to be made directly to your ex-spouse to qualify as spousal support. In fact, payments made to third parties, such as mortgage lenders or attorneys, on behalf of an ex-spouse often count as alimony payments.

In addition, payments made for an ex-spouse’s medical care, taxes, tuition, and other costs may also be viewed as legitimate alimony expenses.

One caveat, though, with these third-party payments is that the non-paying spouse must usually agree in writing before the transaction that the payment is being made for alimony purposes. And, this waiver must be returned before a divorcee includes that payment in his or her tax filing.

Divorcees should also note that child support does not usually count towards alimony payments for tax purposes. The Internal Revenue Service pays close attention to filers who attempt to mix child support and alimony, so be wary of making such mistakes.

With these tips in mind, remember that divorce laws vary widely by state. As a result, different states may treat various alimony problems in widely disparate ways.

With careful planning, though, people who have recently left divorce can manage their child support and alimony payments so that those monthly payments do not cripple them financially.

Alimony and maintenance are designed to help one spouse maintain his or her quality of life, not necessarily to punish the other spouse. As a result, tax laws do make an effort to protect the ex-spouse who is responsible for making alimony payments.

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

When many people file for divorce, the couple will present various forms of evidence in an effort to prove that one spouse is better suited than the other to take care of their children.

This evidence usually takes the form of testimony from friends and family, or evidence of past instances in which the parent served as either a positive or negative influence in the life of the children.

Rarely, though, have investigations into a parent’s fitness to be a legal guardian required snooping into social networking websites. A recent case, however, showed that relying on social networking information in child custody disputes may soon become more common in U.S. divorce courts.

According to a report from Forbes magazine, a divorcing couple in Connecticut was recently ordered by a judge to hand over their passwords to Facebook and other social networking websites.

Sources indicate that Stephen and Courtney Gallion have been engaged in a contentious dispute over who should have custody of their children.

In similar cases, each person’s divorce lawyer will often look at the opposing part’s Facebook page in order to glean some information about their social habits.

This information, in turn, is often presented to a divorce judge to serve as evidence of one party’s fitness to be a parent. Potentially negative information that attorneys may find on websites like Facebook includes evidence of drinking habits, dating tendencies, and other lifestyle factors.

The judge in the Gallion case, however, took the relatively extreme step of forcing both parties to hand over their passwords, which theoretically allows each spouse to learn information that may be concealed from public view.

According to Stephen Gallion’s attorney, the husband allegedly found incriminating evidence on his wife Courtney’s computer that shows she is unfit to be a parent. Shortly thereafter, Stephen asked Courtney for her passwords to her Facebook account, as well as two accounts on dating websites.

Courtney obliged, but she soon texted a friend and asked her to delete potentially harmful information on her dating accounts. After these shenanigans, the divorce judge stepped in and issued an injunction preventing both parties from altering their online profiles during the divorce proceedings.

Oddly, while the judge ordered the password swap, such an action actually violates Facebook’s privacy policy, which forbids users from sharing passwords with each other.

The judge may not have recognized that his order violated the company’s terms of service, but he did warn the Gallions that they were not to tamper with each other’s Facebook information. The password swap was strictly to allow Courtney and Stephen to view each other’s information, not change it.

So, while the Gallions continue to fight their way through court, other couples thinking about divorce might be wise to watch what information they put on Facebook, lest it be used against them in court.

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

Popular celebrity couple Zooey Deschanel and Ben Gibbard were recently discovered to be filing for divorce, but sources indicate that their split is amicable and that the singer and actress plan to remain friends.

According to a recent report from MTV.com, Deschanel and Gibbard have announced their separation after two years of marriage.

Sources indicate that the divorce was mutually beneficial for both parties and was amicable. Moreover, there was reportedly no third party involved in the couple’s decision to split.

The couple was a match made in heaven for fans of independent music and movies. Gibbard is the longtime lead singer for Death Cab for Cutie, and has also released music from solo projects as well as brief tenures with other bands.

Deschanel is also a singer and songwriter, though she may be better known for her frequent roles in independent films. She recently stepped into the mainstream with her new FOX sitcom, “New Girl.”

Sources indicate that the couple had recently been very busy, with Deschanel’s work on her fledgling sitcom, and Gibbard’s preoccupation with the release of Death Cab for Cutie’s seventh studio album, titled “Codes and Keys.”

The couple had a charming introductory meeting, as Gibbard once told New York magazine that he was “awestruck that she was even talking to me.” They were introduced to each other three years ago by their mutual manager.

Gibbard, for his part, certainly nailed the proposal, as gave Deschanel a three-carat diamond and platinum Neil Lane ring as gifts after just a year of dating. The couple married in September, 2009, in Seattle.

Reports of their divorce do not discuss a potential alimony settlement, which may not be necessary because both parties seem to be financially independent.

In addition, the couple did not have children, so they will not have to worry about coming to an agreement about child custody.

Their divorce, though, has saddened fans of the successful artists, as their marriage seemed to hold more promise than the typical celebrity union.

As with many celebrity divorces, though, the challenges inherent in staying together despite hectic travel and work schedules may ultimately have proved too difficult for the couple to overcome.

Still, Deschanel and Gibbard have handled their divorce with plenty of class, which offers a stark contrast to the publicly messy splits often fostered by disgruntled celebrity couples. Fans will be interested to see if the artists’ future songs incorporate themes from their fractured relationship.

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

In Louisiana, longtime couples who were never married are having a difficult time getting a divorce. While this seems like a silly dilemma, Louisiana divorce laws really do create difficulties for unmarried couples looking to end their relationships.

According to a recent report from WDSU in New Orleans, couples in Louisiana have been struggling with the notion that, just because they live with a partner for several decades, they don’t necessarily have a claim to ownership of their supposedly communal property.

In many marriages, under certain state divorce laws, property that is accumulated by a couple during their marriage automatically becomes co-owned by both parties.

Thus, in Louisiana, which is considered a community property state, both parties to a marriage are usually entitled to half of the couple’s total assets that they accrue during the course of their marriage.

However, even if couples live together for a long period of time, if they do not get married, one member of their pairing could be out of luck when it comes time to divvy up property.

In other words, in the absence of a marriage, the property shared by a long-term couple often belongs to the individual who bought it. Frequently, the other party is out of luck.

Because of this cold reality, some unmarried individuals in Louisiana have attempted to get legal divorces in order to receive an equitable share of the couples’ assets.

This tactic, however, usually doesn’t work. Unfortunately, this is becoming a major issue for family lawyers in many states, as marriage becomes increasingly unpopular.

According to research recently compiled by the Pew Research Center, 39 percent of Americans believe that marriage is becoming “obsolete.” As more and more people believe marriage is obsolete, larger numbers of couples are choosing to live together without getting married.

In response to this trend, laws governing property held by unmarried couples may soon have to change. Unfortunately, current laws are designed solely to protect a person’s interest in a couple’s property if the person is married.

In the meantime, couples who are living together without the legal protections of marriage should take active steps to protect their financial health in the event of a separation.

Some experts recommend that unmarried couples should be cautious when giving a financial commitment to major purchases. And, if an unmarried couple does make a major purchase, such as a car or a home, each individual should make sure that he or she owns half of the asset.

A family law or divorce attorney may be able to provide further information about protecting your assets, especially if you are not married.

By taking active measures to protect your interest in shared property today, you could save a lot of financial headaches in the future.

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

Every once in a while, researchers will attempt to glean information about divorce in an effort to predict divorce’s effects, or discover some direct relationship between certain groups of people and their propensity to file for divorce.

Inevitably, these studies unearth some fruitful information, but fail to categorize divorce in a way that makes divorce filings predictable.

A recent study from Bowling Green University, which tried to accumulate enough data to narrow divorce down to a science, shows that difficulties inherent in making sweeping claims about the nature of divorce in the United States.

According to a report from United Press International, researchers at the National Center for Family and Marriage Research have discovered conflicting information about the link between education and divorce.

Specifically, the researchers found that the women in the U.S. with the lowest levels of education and women with the highest levels of education file divorce at roughly similar rates.

And, even though they file at similar rates, these groups of women with widely disparate education histories account for the highest rates of divorce among all women.

According to the study, women who had not earned their high school diploma or a GED had a first divorce rate of 14.4 per 1,000. On the other hand, women who had earned a bachelor’s degree or a higher degree had a similar rate divorce rate of 14.2 per 1,000.

Oddly, both women with little education and women with experience in higher education had rates of divorce that were higher than the average divorce rates.

The study found that, among U.S. women who were 18 years or older, the average divorce rate for first-time divorcees was 17.5 per 1,000.

So, what do these figures mean? Well, for one, they seem to contradict a previously-held notion in the research community that women with lower levels of education were more likely to get divorced.

On the contrary, it seems that earning a college education does not make a woman any less vulnerable to a potential divorce.
In the words of Dr. Susan Brown, one of the directors of the National Center for Family and Marriage Research, the “relationship between education and divorce is not straight-forward.”

Of course, this is not the first time that conventional wisdom about divorce has been proven wrong. In past decades, divorce was seen as a socially and financially disastrous decision for a woman to make.

Today, however, divorce is viewed by many people as a necessary fresh start. And, as people live longer and date at older ages, and as women become more financially independent, the financial and social barriers that once prevented divorces no longer apply.

Still, it is helpful for researchers to challenge their assumptions about divorce, particularly if these assumptions are based on silent prejudices or faulty notions about class and education.

So, if you are considering divorce, but are hesitant because of perceived social disadvantages that divorce may create, do some homework about divorce and the real effects it will have on your life.

And, for more information about your legal options when separating from your spouse, contact a local divorce lawyer today.

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

In a recent study is to be believed, filing for divorce may no longer be a recipe for a protracted, bitter battle. Of course, this popular misconception has been outdated for years, as divorce proceedings seem to have grown more civil for decades.

In a recent article in the New York Times, Susan Gregory Thomas, who recently penned a memoir about her own divorce, suggests that divorces are become much more amicable than they once were.

Thomas offers several reasons for her thesis. First, she claims that members of Generation X, who grew up in an era of skyrocketing divorce rates, are waiting longer to marry and making wiser marriage choices.

As her theory goes, because more and more young people are dating for longer periods of time, they are settling down with people who are better suited to their personalities. With better connections at the beginning of the marriage, the end of these marriages seems to be a bit friendlier.

Some commenters, though, believe that Thomas is over-simplifying the reasons for friendlier divorces. For example, Amanda Marcotte at Slate.com believes that younger generations are seeing more amicable divorces simply because divorce is not as stigmatized as it once was.

A few decades ago, divorce was viewed as a socially disastrous event with severe consequences. In order to avoid divorce, couples stayed together as long as they could until the marriage erupted into irreconcilable tension.

Now, Marcotte claims, younger people do not view marriage with as much awe as previous generations. Thus, when they do divorce, tensions are not quite so high, and the couple may feel more comfortable engaging in an amicable separation.

Marcotte also believes that feminism has played a role in civilizing divorce disputes. In past generations, she claims, women were viewed as “belonging to” their husbands, which escalated tensions when they threatened to leave their mates.

Today, however, men and women more often view themselves as independent entities, each with his or her own right to leave the marriage if it is necessary.

While Marcotte and Thomas both have convincing views, there may be another, more legally-based reason for the increased friendliness of disputes over things like alimony payments and child support.

Instead of always heading directly for divorce court, many couples today prefer to negotiate behind closed doors with professional attorneys.

These out-of-court divorce settlements allow couples to air out their disputes out of the public eye, and often lead to more beneficial and civil divorce agreements.

Of course, in order for these settlements to work, both sides must come to the negotiating table willing to negotiate in good faith. But, if Marcotte and Thomas are to be believed, younger generations are more casual about divorce, and good-faith negotiation seems to be a natural outgrowth of this attitude.

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

Conventional wisdom says that filing divorce typically hurts woman more financially than it does men. Recent research from the University of Connecticut sheds more light on this gender disparity when it comes to divorce and finances.

According to a report in Forbes magazine, the University of Connecticut’s long-term study analyzed data compiled from more than 2,000 divorced women over the course of 40 years. The study also used data from the Social Security Administration, as well as individual polling.

In the study, researchers found that women who remarried after divorce tended to fare better financially than women who remained single.

The researchers said that women who remained single after divorce were usually able to enhance their personal earnings by staying in the job market, but that the loss of their spouse’s supplemental Social Security money ended up hurting them financially in the long run.

This extra income “boost” from a spouse’s Social Security income proved to be the biggest financial difference between single and remarried divorcees, although the study does come with one caveat.

Most of the women surveyed were divorced in the 1970s, when women had a harder time obtaining equal pay in the workplace and were perhaps more reliant on the income provided by their spouse.

Times, however, have changed, and some critics of the study suggest that the results might look different if researchers were to look at women divorcing today.

Nevertheless, despite the changing times, there remain some harsh economic realities for some women going through a divorce.

For example, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, women who have obtained a divorce in the last 12 months are more likely than other women to be in poverty and receive public assistance. In addition, on average, recently divorced women typically have lower incomes than recently divorced men.

While these trends may seem disheartening, some economic advisors say that divorce doesn’t have to be a financial disaster for women.

In fact, with careful planning, and sound divorce management, women filing for divorce may be able to obtain a divorce agreement that allows them to thrive financially.

In order to plan for a divorce, many women seek further information from a local divorce lawyer. Tackling a divorce on one’s own may not be the best strategy, as complex family laws that determine the outcome of separations seem to change every day.

Laws, for example, that govern topics like alimony and spousal support are evolving in each state, as lawmakers shift divorce laws to match to changing norms of our culture.

Most states recognize that women who were not the primary breadwinners in their marriages are placed at an economic disadvantage in divorce. As such, many states allow women in divorce to receive some sort of monthly payment in order to maintain their past level of comfort.

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

Alimony payments in the event of new romantic partnerships after divorce can get tricky. One Utah woman, however, recently showed just how strange alimony disputes can become.

In a strange case that was recently decided at the Utah Supreme Court, a divorced woman will be allowed to keep receiving monthly alimony payments despite her alleged sexual relationship with her parents’ teenage foster son.

The strange alimony kerfuffle started in 2006 when Tracy Lynn Myers first suspected that his ex-wife was engaged in a sexual relationship with her foster brother.

In a local district court, a judge determined that Myers was, in fact, able to stop paying Becky Sue Myers $1,200 each month in alimony because she was engaged in a “marriage-like” cohabitation with another person.

Under Utah divorce laws, if a formerly married person who receives alimony payments begins to cohabitate with someone else, then the other ex-spouse is free to shed any prior financial obligations.

The district court determined that Becky Sue’s infrequent liaisons with her foster brother amounted to a marriage-like cohabitation, and freed Myers of his alimony payments.

This week, however, the Utah Supreme Court disagreed with this conclusion and overruled the district court, stating that the woman’s relationship did not rise to the level of cohabitation because, among other factors, she and the teenager slept in separate beds.

The court also observed that, despite its inability to articulate an exact definition of cohabitation, common signs of a marriage-like relationship include an intimate relationship, a common household, and shared expenses.

So, because of the court’s decision, Tracy Lynn Myers will have to continue making alimony payments to his ex-wife, despite her bizarre and possibly illegal behavior.

Sources indicate that Becky Sue was never convicted of sexual abuse for her treatment of the unnamed foster child, nor are authorities currently investigating any improprieties.

This, however, may eventually change, as Becky Sue’s own children continue to show concern about the legality of the relationship. Her children, in fact, submitted affidavits during the divorce alleging that Becky Sue had treated the teenager as her boyfriend, even bragging about their dating status.

While Utah’s Supreme Court ruled against Myers, other states may have been more willing to free Myers of his alimony obligations.
Divorce laws vary widely by state, but many courts would have shown less tolerance for a woman who was clearly engaged in some form of romantic partnership but still received spousal support.

Of course, just because a woman is engaged in a romantic relationship does not mean that she is financially settled. In this case, for example, it is unlikely that the teenager was able to support Becky Sue, given that he still lived with his lover’s parents.

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

Children in divorce are often placed in vulnerable positions, so courts take their post-divorce welfare very seriously. As a result, the most aggressively enforced portions of divorce agreements are child support provisions.

In fact, many divorcing parents are unaware of the serious consequences of ignoring court-ordered child support payments, as state courts across the country often don’t hesitate to charge non-paying parents with felonies if they ignore their obligations.

A recent program in Indiana highlighted the difficulty some courts have in collecting child support payments, and the measures they will take to protect the welfare of children.

According to a recent story in the Indianapolis Star, officials in Marion County offered a six-week amnesty program for noncustodial parents who owed thousands of dollars in unpaid child support.

Typically, courts in Marion County will prosecute parents who shirk their child support responsibilities, but the amnesty program was aimed at collecting money from parents in exchange for a guarantee that they wouldn’t be prosecuted.

The program, which was called “Stop Delaying, Start Paying,” achieved a considerable amount of success, as many parents took advantage of the court’s amnesty offer to come in and pay their debts.

Sources indicate that hundreds of parents paid overdue child support. In addition, the program successfully guided more than 900 parents towards employment counseling services, which is a 77 percent improvement over the number of unemployment referrals the county usually gives.

Unemployment is a major reason for the non-payment of child support, and the lingering effects of the recent recession have played a large role in the difficulties of state officials to collect support payments.

Despite this apparent success, however, the program, however, was not able to gather payments from six major offenders. Sources indicate that these parents each owed debts of up to $100,000 dollars. As a result, county prosecutors have issued felony arrest warrants for the delinquent parents.

Each of these major violators has been charged with nonsupport of a defendant child and, if they are convicted, they face a potential sentence of 2 to 8 years in prison. While this is an Indiana law, many other states levy prison sentences against similar offenders.

In addition to revealing the measures courts often take to ensure payment of child support, this story also shows the scope of the problem.

Even modest Marion County manages roughly 76,000 child support cases each year. The total child support collected in these cases amounts to more than $100 million each calendar cycle.

As states like Indiana continue to enforce child support debts with increasing vigor, noncustodial parents would be well advised to make their payments, or at least remain in contact with the court in order to work out more reasonable payment plans.

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