Madonna Divorce Settlement - It'll Be A Big "Payout" to Guy Ritchie

News was just released of the Madonna divorce settlement, under which Guy Ritchie will take around $76 Million as his part of the couple's marital assets division. For more, see the Guardian's report, Madonna divorce deal 'worth £50m' to husband Guy Ritchie | guardian.co.uk, and look at People Magazine's web story, Rep: Madonna to Pay Guy Ritchie $76 Million in Divorce Settlement -

YouTube Divorce - A Failed Strategy

To follow up on the YouTube Divorce of Tricia Walsh-Smith, which I discussed here this past April (after which Tricia continued her tirades and crazy antics on YouTube, all of which I ignored), it appears that Tricia's adventurous approach to fighting her contested divorce has not helped her one bit. Back in April, I thought Tricia had the craziness out of her system, as she appeared to have

Christie Brinkley Divorce - Winner Takes All?

The Christie Brinkley divorce case has just been settled, and Christie will walk away with sole custody of the children and all but $2 million in cash, from assets estimated to be worth around $60 million, including 18 properties in the Hamptons, all of which she will keep. For more see the latest stories from People Magazine, and The New York Post.Looks like Christie won big, after choosing to

Divorce By YouTube

Wow! Recently we had a disgruntled husband in Vermont airing dirty divorce laundry on his blog (see my posts here and there). Now a disgruntled wife in New York has broadcast her grievances on YouTube (see below). This YouTube video has been widely viewed, and has been widely reported and blogged about already. See Family Lore and New York Divorce Report for some good posts on this.This

Britney to Pay $400K to Various Lawyers

People Magazine reports that Britney Spears was just ordered to pay $400,000 to several lawyers working in various ways to manage the never-ending Britney Disaster. For information about Massachusetts divorce and family law, see the divorce and family law page of my law firm website.

Will Heather Mills Need A Dog?

If you still haven't gotten enough of the Paul McCartney-Heather Mills divorce story, or missed the recent news from here (long and short) and elsewhere, there are still more places to explore. (I'm sorry, I'm afflicted with Anglophilia, with a touch of Beatlemania, and Paul was my fave of the Fab Four. I do think this will be my last post on the topic - still, don't hold me to that.)First

Mills McCartney Judgment Now Published in Full

As just reported by the British family law blog Pink Tape (Mills McCartney Award Announced - and Judgment published in full « Pink Tape), the McCartney-Mills divorce judgment has now been published in full, after Heather Mills' application for leave to appeal (in order precisely to prevent the entire judgment from being published) was denied. The entire judgment can be found here. See the video

Britney Spears Ordered to Pay $375K of K-Fed's Legal Fees

Following up on my previous post about lawyers for Britney Spears and Kevin Federline arguing in court over whether, and how much, Britney should pay for K-Fed's legal fees in their ongoing custody battle, I now pass on the news that the California court commissioner on the case yesterday decided that Spears Must Pay $375,000 for K-Fed Fees, according to the Associated Press ("Britney Spears was

Heather Mills to Get £24.3 Million in Assets

Heather Mills will get £24.3 million in assets (approximately 50 million U.S. dollars), per judgment in her divorce with Paul McCartney. See Family Lore: Money (That's What I Want), and The Times article of today. This judgment may not be the end of the matter, however. For information about Massachusetts divorce and family law, see the divorce and family law page of my law firm website.

Lawyers for Britney and Kevin Rack Up More Fees Arguing About Who Has To Pay Them

In Hollywood News, this past weekend Britney's ex Kevin Federline played golf with Britney's dad Jamie, and then on Monday (yesterday), Britney Spears and Kevin Federline's lawyers argued again in court about who has to pay K-Fed's legal fees in their ongoing custody case. It's not fair that K-Fed's lawyers are increasing their rate to $600/hour, says Britney's $700/hour lawyer. Blah, blah, blah.

Bobby Brown - Do We Want Him Here or Not?

As just reported here in Boston - see Boston Globe: Bobby Brown agrees to community service and Boston Criminal Lawyer Blog: Singer Bobby Brown Forgoes Jail Time for Community Service Over Alleged Cocaine Possession - Bobby Brown will now do community service here after being arrested for alleged drug possession, per the terms of disposition in a Brockton District Court criminal matter. Wait a

McCartney Chainsaw Massacre

Thanks again to English family lawyer John Bolch and his Family Lore blog, for helping us here on the other side of the Atlantic to keep up with the ever-fascinating McCartney-Mills divorce.In his recent post Family Lore: The Bishop, the Beatle and the Beards, Bolch points to another wonderful English family law attorney and blogger, Marilyn Stowe, whose Marilyn Stowe Family Law and Divorce Blog

McCartney v. Mills & Mills v. Her Lawyers

Check out the Family Lore blog's recent post on the McCartney-Mills divorce: Pools of Sorrow, Waves of Joy. Apparently the McCartney-Mills divorce saga has still not ended with an agreement between Paul and Heather. In fact, it seems Paul and Heather may be going to court next week for a five-day hearing to resolve their divorce, and in that important proceeding Heather may continue to be

Shaq O'Neal Divorce Reveals He's A Big Spender

I just saw this post by Jeffrey Lalloway at the California Divorce and Family Law Blog: Shaq's Expenses Revealed In Divorce Court...$26,560 a month in babysitters??.Miami Heat center Shaq O'Neal, in the middle of a divorce with his wife of five years, Shaunie, has reported expenses of $1.3 million a month, including $26,560 per month just for babysitters (Shaq and Shaunie have four kids together

Still No Visitation For Brit After Today's Hearing

See the Court's Order (courtesy of TMZ.com) after today's hearing in the Britney Spears custody case. Kevin Federline and several witnesses testified, but Britney didn't see fit even to show up to court until the afternoon. Result of the hearing? Still no visitation at all for Brit with the kids until at least February 19. TMZ.com: "No Visitation for Brit," Posted Jan 14th 2008:"The Commissioner

Joanna Grossman on What Britney Spears Can Teach Us About Family Law

I said in a recent post that we should not apply the legal lessons of the celebrities and the wealthy to our own cases, unless we are ourselves from that "strange world of the rich and famous, where fame sometimes hurts, but money always helps." But there are of course some things we can indeed learn from these cases, and in fact that is part of my reason for writing about them. When

Britney's Visitation Suspended - Physical and Legal Custody to K-Fed Until Further Order of Court

Order in Brit Case -- Visitation Suspended - TMZ.com: "Order in Brit Case -- Visitation Suspended" (Jan 4th 2008 6:07PM by TMZ Staff)"The Commish in the Brit case just issued his order and we got it first. -- K-Fed gets sole legal and physical custody. Brit gets nothing."See the article to see TMZ.com's copy of the court order: No custody or visitation for Britney until further order of court...

Britney's Latest Attorney Wants Out

BRITNEY'S ATTORNEY: I QUIT (CelebTV.com, January 02, 2008)Heather Mills is not the only recent celebrity to have problems keeping her lawyer. Now Britney Spears' latest attorney wants out of Britney's custody dispute."CelebTV.com is the first to reveal that Britney Spears' divorce attorney, Sorrell Trope, is seeking to drop his troubled client. On Jan. 2, Trope filed a motion in L.A. Superior

Celebrity Justice 2007

CNN Legal Commentary: The best and worst of a year of celebrity justice; Figures from entertainment, sports and politics had their day in courtThis CNN article hits the highlights of the past year (Paris Hilton, O.J. Simpson, Michael Vick, Barry Bonds etc.) in the strange world of the rich and famous, where fame sometimes hurts, but money always helps. This is fascinating stuff, but unless you

Heather Mills and Her Lawyer Call it Splits

I thought Heather Mills had finally learned her lesson and would now shut up, but wondered, in my post a week ago, if she was she too late. Heather Mills Finally Learns To Shut Up, But Was She Too Late? As it turns out, Heather Mills has still not learned her lesson, still will not shut up, and yes, she was too late - at least if she wanted to keep her current counsel. She went on TV again this