Despite rumors of infidelity, Billy Joel is denying any claims that his separation from “Top Chef” host Katie Lee has anything to do with her questionable relationship with a hot, younger fashion designer.
Yesterday, the Piano Man, 60 announced that he and Lee had separated after five years of marriage, but his spokeswoman was quick to say their decision was “absolutely unrelated” to any claims of her being unfaithful.
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Jun 18, 2009, 06:42 PM | by Dan Snierson
Jon and Kate Gosselin, stars of the popular TLC reality series Jon & Kate Plus Eight, will announce on Monday that they will file for divorce, according to Radaronline.com. The website is reporting that a source confirmed that Kate recently met with a divorce lawyer, and the couple had previously decided to separate by mid-July, but is now moving up the timetable.
TLC has scheduled a special one-hour edition of the show for Monday; in a teaser spot for that episode, Kate says, "We've made some life-changing decisions." (The parents of eight are contracted for 40 episodes this year.) TLC declined to comment on the matter when contacted by EW.com.
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Published: June 18, 2009 at 6:14 PM
WASHINGTON, June 18 (UPI) -- Widespread unemployment has put the squeeze on parents trying to make child-support payments, social workers say.
As a result, more parents can't pay, more have gone to court to try to reduce payments and more rely on unemployment to cover child-support payments, USA Today reports. And parents with custody of kids have been seeking higher child-support payments because their income's declined.
San Mateo County, Calif., reports contempt orders against parents who owe child support increased 129 percent, from 180 to 413, in the six months ending in March compared with the same period a year ago, the newspaper said.
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BY CHARLOTTE HUFF
Who has legal rights to your egg or sperm?
Like many cancer patients who explore fertility preservation before cancer treatment, Adrienne Rathert didn’t have the luxury of much time to mull over options. The lump on her back, after a series of laboratory analyses, had been diagnosed as Ewing’s sarcoma, a cancer of the soft tissue. Her oncologist wanted to begin aggressive chemotherapy as soon as possible.
Rathert, 28 at the time, hadn’t considered the possibility of treatment-related infertility until her physician asked: Did she want to freeze some of her eggs or, alternatively, some embryos just in case? Her live-in boyfriend was supportive; so Rathert began hormonal injections immediately to stimulate egg production. “I’ve always wanted to be pregnant,” she says.
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By Emily Pantelides - bio | email
Posted by Rachel Leigh - email
(WFLX) - Could Facebook lead to divorce?
Tuesday would be David eighth wedding anniversary, but he and his wife are getting a divorce because, David says, his wife cheated on him. "They had met each other and stayed in touch through Facebook."
Adding salt to the wounds, David saw picture of his wife and the other man posted on her Facebook account. "I think without Facebook there is no way they would have."
That's the new reality of divorce; after all, nowadays we do so much. We have Twitter, text, Facebook, iPhones, Blackberries. "It's getting very interesting; we never have a dull day at this office between Twitter, Facebook, Match.com, e-mails," said divorce attorney Robin Roshkind. "Your computer can be your worst enemy if you are in divorce litigation."
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Posted Jun 17th 2009 3:30PM by Latifah Muhammad Filed under: R'n'B News
Usher is letting his divorce papers do the talking when it comes to his split from Tameka Foster-Raymond. According to court documents, the 30-year-old called the marriage "irretrievably broken," as he has not lived under the same roof as Foster-Raymond since July 2008. The divorce petition goes on to state that there is no "reasonable hope of reconciliation" between the two.
Although Usher has yet to go into detail as to why he is divorcing, it is speculated that Foster-Raymond may have been unfaithful. The mother of five's lawyer Randall Kessler has not directly addressed the rumors but stated that the 38 year-old is a "faithful and loving mother." Kessler also said that his client loves her soon to be ex-husband and wants to keep the matter "as private as possible."
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Not long after Patrick told his wife Tammie he wanted a divorce, she posted an angry, hurt note on "the wall," or public-comments section, of his Facebook page. Embarrassed that his colleagues, clients, church friends and family could see evidence of his marital woes, he deleted it and blocked his wife from seeing his page. A couple of days later, the IT worker in Florida--who asked that his last name not be used in this story — found alarmed messages from two Facebook friends in his inbox. Tammie had used a mutual friend's account to view Patrick's wall and e-mailed several women he had had exchanges with. He says her e-mails were borderline defamatory. She says they merely noted that he was married with children, a fact he had left off his Facebook profile. Either way: Ouch.
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Associated Press 10:23 AM CDT, June 6, 2009
NORTHBROOK, Ill. - U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk's office has announced the Republican congressman and his wife are divorcing.
Kirk and Kimberly Ann Vertolli have been married eight years. The divorce becomes final on Monday.
Kirk is in his fifth term representing 10th district in the suburbs north of Chicago.
He has said he's considering running in 2010 for governor or for the Senate seat held by Democrat Roland Burris.
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Not many people enter marriage thinking it will lead to divorce. While accurate divorce rates are difficult to calculate and often unreliable, many social scientists conclude that up to 40% of marriages are terminated. The chances are fairly high that you or someone you know will get divorced.
"It can be the worst thing you've ever gone though in your life," says Brette Sember, a former divorce lawyer and author of a series of divorce books, including The Complete Divorce Handbook (Sterling, 2009). "You're hurt, sad, frustrated, scared and can't think clearly."
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Ike Vanden Eykel helps folks untie the knot
Dallas Business Journal - by Stephen C. Webster
Ike Vanden Eykel, 58, recently named the "reigning king" of Dallas divorce by The Dallas Morning News, knows a thing or two about family shake-ups and break-ups. And with the onset of "divorce season" starting in January, his somber workload is on the rise. His new book, "Lone Star Divorce," gives advice on the many nuances of getting unhitched in Texas, from child support and custody disputes to the unsavory uses of private investigators and the many courtroom applications of audio and video evidence. Eykel was interviewed by staff writer Stephen C. Webster.
Describe your family. I am married with three children. My oldest is in graduate school at Marquette University in Milwaukee, on his way to a doctorate in religious studies. I have a daughter who is a senior at UCLA, hoping to possibly become a sports agent. I have a third child who is a high-functioning autistic. He lives in a group home north of Fort Worth.
Describe your childhood. I grew up in a family of four children outside of Chicago. My oldest brother was in the military, and he went to Vietnam and got shot down. He was missing in action for 20 years before they found the wreckage. My dad was a pilot with American Airlines who flew out of Chicago.
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JOE GYAN JR.

The latest chapter in a Baton Rouge businessman’s decade-long divorce case has his ex-wife laying claim to hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees he has paid his attorneys.
Brenda Keith also claims she is entitled to some of the more than $3 million that USAgencies Inc. founder Gregory Tramontin paid another former wife as part of a community property settlement.
Keith is suing Tramontin’s attorneys, including former Parish Attorney Wade Shows, claiming they profited by making false representations in her divorce case and should be required to “disgorge these ill-gotten profits.’’

“No client should have to pay his lawyers hundreds of thousands of dollars to make false representations to the court that can serve no purpose except to deceive the court and ultimately discredit the client,’’ Keith’s attorney, Neil Sweeney, alleges in the suit.

Shows sued Sweeney for alleged defamation in 2007 in connection with the long-running divorce case. The defamation suit has not been resolved.
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If Jon and Kate get a divorce, how would child support work for eight kids?
—Holly, Salt Lake City
If you're asking whether a parent can get a discount of eight for the price of six, the answer is, technically, yeah.
First things first, though. For the record, Jon Gosselin has denied he had an affair—despite rather explicit evidence related in Us Weekly—and wife Kate appeared on the Today show to declare that she's "very hesitant to believe" that her man has cheated.

"We're doing our best and learning how to go," she said.

If the two "stars" of Jon & Kate Plus 8 decide that the best way to go is a divorce, then child support for eight kids growing up on basic cable gets really interesting.

For the sake of explanation, let's just suppose that Kate gets custody of all the kids. In most states, the law puts a cap on the percentage of Jon's wages—around 40 to 50 percent—that he must pay in child support. The percentage for the first kid is usually 20 percent, and then it goes down from there with each subsequent spawn.

The Drew Peterson timeline:
While still married to his third wife, Kathleen Savio, Peterson meets the future Stacy Peterson. Drew Peterson appears at the hotel where Stacy Peterson works. They talk over coffee; he routinely drops in during her shift. He is 47 and she is 17. Months later, they become intimate, Stacy Peterson tells family. While still dating Drew Peterson, Stacy Peterson becomes pregnant. They marry in 2003, exchanging vows in a field in Bolingbrook. Drew Peterson invites a son from his first marriage as his witness. Stacy Peterspon asks her sister Cassandra Cales to be there.

“They didn’t want to tell any of the family,” Cales says. “They just wanted to get it done.”

March 1, 2004. Drew Peterson and Kathleen Savio are sorting out the messy finances of their divorce when he shows up at her Bolingbrook home. (Peterson has said he was dropping off the couple’s two sons at the time). When no one answers the locked door, Drew Peterson asks a neighbor for help and waits for a locksmith, Peterson says. The neighbor goes first, according to Peterson.
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CHICAGO, March 31, 2009 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ ----As the recession continues to deepen and job cuts accelerate, a rapidly rising number of divorced spouses are requesting changes be made to child support and alimony arrangements. In a recent survey of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML: undefined, undefined, undefined%), 39% of the nation's top divorce attorneys cite an increase in modifications being made to child support payments. Additionally, 42% of the members report a rise in the number of changes made to alimony payments.
"When a divorced person loses a job or has take a pay cut, a request to make modifications to a child support or alimony payment arrangement often follows," said Gary Nickelson, president of the AAML. "With job losses becoming so widespread, our members are subsequently noticing a sizeable increase of these modifications taking place."
Overall, 39% of AAML members responded that they have seen an increase in child support payment modifications during the current economic downturn, while only 5% reported a decrease. Regarding alimony, 42% of the attorneys have cited a rise in modifications, while just 6% noted a decline.
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A Chicago divorce attorney who posed nude and wrote a legal advice column for Playboy.com has filed suit alleging an executive of the publishing empire sexually harassed her.
Corri Fetman, 45, who authored the Lawyer of Love column, alleged Thomas Hagopian, an executive for the digital branch of Playboy Enterprises, bombarded her with sexually explicit email messages and phone calls, groped her and took away her column last July when she repeatedly rebuffed his advances.
Hagopian could not be reached for comment, but a Playboy spokeswoman, Elizabeth Austin, said Hagopian left the company last year. She would not comment further on his departure.

Fetman's name was in the news in 2007 after she and her law partner placed a huge billboard in the Gold Coast that featured scantily clad men and women and the proclamation: "Life's short. Get a Divorce".

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Record Information Services, Inc. has provided a wide variety of public and marketing-oriented data for the Chicagoland area for over 13 years. Our mission is to offer the most current public record and marketing information available, including databases of new homeowners, new businesses, new and previously recorded mortgages, bankruptcies, tax sales, DUI, criminal felonies, criminal misdemeanors, tax liens, divorces, suspended licenses, probate, incorporations, business licenses and foreclosures.
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Illinois attorney Joseph P. McCaffery launched his international law practice by providing high-quality legal services in a broad range of substantive areas on behalf of individual and corporate clients locally and globally. He has successfully represented clients throughout the world with interests in Illinois, as well as in federal jurisdictions and other states.
Today the law firm offers a team of a dozen attorneys, experienced law clerks and industry specialists, with offices in Kane County (Aurora) and Cook County (Chicago), and representing local and worldwide clients throughout DuPage, DeKalb, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will counties. These Illinois attorneys represent clients from as far away as Texas and Florida, as well as Americans living abroad and international clients with business or personal legal issues in the U.S. For aggressive legal representation, contact Illinois attorneys Joseph P. McCaffery & Associates for a free initial consultation.
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Welcome to the Law Firm of Arnold D. Cribari, Esq., offering collaborative, mediation, and litigation alternatives in divorce and other domestic relations matters. Our goal is to identify your needs and concerns, and resolve the divorce economically and in a way that works for you and your entire family in the long term.
Today, more than ever, collaborative is best for most divorcing couples because it can help them obtain an economical settlement in our current down economy. View my recently published article: A Kinder, Gentler Way to Part; Collaborative Practice Benefits Divorcing Couples in Hard Economic Times.
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Family Law Practice
Family law matters are especially sensitive and require dedicated and responsive legal representation. At the Law Offices of Donald J. Cosley, we represent clients in divorces, child custody disputes and other family law cases. Our practice is dedicated to protecting the rights of mothers, fathers and especially children.
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At the Law Office of Rhea A. Dorsam, P.C., my mission is to provide you with quality legal support and counsel. I assist clients with the issues involved in divorce, such as marital property division, child and spousal support, child custody, and visitation. I also handle the broad spectrum of family law matters, such as prenuptial agreements, adoption, and paternity. I invite you to contact my Orland Park law office to schedule a free initial consultation.
My Commitment to Caring Representation
Since 1982, I have been helping clients in Cook County and Will County, Illinois, find answers during stressful and challenging times. I work with sensitivity and compassion as I help clients find solutions that work for them. In particular, I strive to help parents in the process of divorce to protect the people most important to them—their children.
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Niles, Illinois, Divorce and Family Law Attorney
Jay A. Slutzky, Attorney at Law, can advise and represent you with all of your Illinois divorce and family law needs. I bring over thirty years of experience, knowledge, and continuous legal education to my all of my clients' family law cases. I advise my clients to seek a reasonable, cooperative settlement agreement. For most people, a negotiated or mediated divorce settlement will mean fewer complaints and disagreements after the Divorce. Divorce is more than just the end of a marriage relationship. It is also the beginning of a new relationship for the ex-spouses and children.
I fight for fair and reasonable settlements and court judgments.
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Law Offices of Sheryl Rae Ghezzi
Sheryl Rae Ghezzi established her law practice in 1986. She has since continued to serve clients in the counties of Cook, DuPage, Will, McHenry, Lake and Kane. With her extensive courtroom experience at all trial levels, Sheryl vigorously defends her clients rights and interests.
The law offices are conveniently located in Lincolnwood, Illinois, just east of I-94 on the corner of Lincoln and Touhy Avenues. A personal consultation is scheduled by calling our office and setting up an appointment to discuss your concerns.
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Chicago Divorce Law Medical Malpractice Criminal Defense Personal Injury Attorneys The Chawla Group, Hinsdale, Illinois
The Chawla Group, Ltd., is a full service law firm with a broad range of litigation and transactional experience. Our emphasis is on our statewide and regional practice, representing businesses and individuals throughout northern and central Illinois in the areas of business law, family and divorce law, personal injury, medical malpractice, criminal defense, immigration, estate planning, and real estate.
We are recognized as one of Illinois' preeminent law firms and have earned our reputation by providing high quality and sophisticated legal services while maintaining an uncompromising standard of professionalism. Our lawyers share a common goal: delivering excellent legal services to our clients in a manner that is personal, prompt, efficient, and result oriented. In addition, our lawyers have diverse areas of expertise and both our business and individual clients have the experience of the entire firm available to them. Our lawyers are not only highly regarded as practicing attorneys; they are accomplished legal teachers and authors.
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Contact a skilled DuPage County Family Law Attorney
If your are considering filing for divorce or need an attorney for any other family law matter, or just need answers to your questions, please contact the DuPage County divorce lawyers at Sullivan Taylor & Gumina. We can be reached by phone at (630) 665-7676 or by filling out the in-take form on our Contact Us page.
Our firm handles family law matters for clients in Chicago and throughout the western suburbs including DuPage County, Kane County, Will County, and the cities of Aurora, Bloomingdale, Bolingbrook, Carol Stream, Darien, Downers Grove, Elmhurst, Geneva, Glen Ellyn, Hinsdale, Joliet, Lombard, Naperville, Oak Park, Oakbrook, Park Ridge, Roselle, St. Charles, Villa Park, Warrenville, Wheaton, Winfield, and Woodridge.
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Experienced Illinois Family Law and Real Estate Attorney
At Abrams & Ament, P.C., we don't try to be all things to all people. Our law firm focuses on two areas of law — family law (including divorce) and real estate. Since our practice is limited, we are able to offer you the experience and knowledge you deserve in matters that mean the most to you.
Serving Buffalo Grove, Waukegan and Northwest Suburbs of Lake and Cook Counties, Illinois Since 1984
From our law offices in Buffalo Grove and Waukegan, Illinois, we serve clients throughout the north and northwest suburbs of Chicago and Lake and Cook Counties, Illinois. Attorney Rickey J. Ament, president and principal attorney at our firm, has over 30 years of legal experience. We offer clients comprehensive family law services — whether you and your spouse agree on most issues — or you cannot agree on anything.
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Patricia Blagojevich may enjoy "marital privilege" law that bars her from testifying against her husband -- though some attorneys say she's not in the clear just yet.

A word of advice to the Blagojeviches: whatever you do, don't get a divorce.

An Illinois law dating to the 1960s may help protect the state's foul-mouthed first lady as the federal government proceeds with its investigation and prosecution of her husband, Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
 
Illinois penal code bars Patricia Blagojevich from testifying against her husband about "any conversation [held] between them during marriage," a result of a "marital privilege" law that keeps the content of their contact private, just as conversations between a priest and penitent are off the books.
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The pastor of a church in Ybor City, Fla., challenges married members of his flock to have sex every day for a month as a way of deflating high divorce rates.
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Divorce rates drop as couples realize it's cheaper to stay together
By Marty Orgel | MarketWatch
The recession and economic turmoil is creating a new class of casualties: Married couples who can't afford to get divorced. In these tough times many people are finding it's cheaper to stay together, even when they can't stand each other.
"The reason that the economy has such an enormous impact on divorce is that most people in the middle-income brackets are getting by on whatever income they have. They're just getting by," said Bonnie Booden, a family law and divorce attorney in Phoenix.
A major factor in the divorce downturn, Booden said, is divorced couples have to establish two separate households with current funds -- a prohibitive factor when you're looking at divorce in tough economic times.
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STERN Henry J Blagojevich is Discredited; Can't Choose New Senator.

Paterson Can Make a Choice, But Would Alienate the Rest.

We have been watching the implosion of Illinois politics, triggered by the arrest of Governor Rod Blagojevich at 6 a.m. Tuesday morning by FBI agents working for U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, the prosecutor who secured Scooter Libby’s conviction in the Plame affair.  BTW, Libby is not to be confused with Gordon Liddy, the Watergate mastermind whose 20-year sentence was commuted by President Carter in 1977.
The pre-breakfast apprehension of the state’s highest official came without the benefit of a grand jury indictment.  The U.S. Attorney also released a 76-page document detailing the defendant’s wiretapped conversations.  Through the wonders of technology, you can link to the complaint here.  For those of you who may not have time to peruse all of it, the President-elect is referenced on pages 63 and 64.
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By Alex Johnson Updated 6:36 PM PST, Sun, Nov 23, 2008

The economic crisis may be doing what pastors, family therapists and matrimonial counselors have long struggled to accomplish: keeping troubled marriages together.

Marriage counselors and divorce lawyers nationwide say more distressed couples are putting off divorce because the cost of splitting up is prohibitive in a time of stagnant salaries, plummeting home values and rising unemployment.

While the stress of economic uncertainty often worsens already shaky unions, it also can make couples more financially dependent on each other, said Pamela Smock, a researcher at the Population Studies Center at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

“Anything of this magnitude that’s going to affect millions of people does not bode well for all sorts of families,” she said. “It could keep unhappy couples together.”

That’s what happened to a client of Robi S. Ludwig, a psychotherapist in New York.

“I had a woman say to me: ‘My God, I can’t stand my husband. Every day I just want to leave him, but I can’t afford it,’” said Ludwig, co-author of “Till Death Do Us Part,” an examination of severely dysfunctional marriages. “So they are deciding to stay together.”

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