Biggest Celebrity Divorces and Separations: From Tiger Woods to Arnold Schwarzenegger



[Photo from Wikipedia]

As you know, this blog primarily focuses on practical divorce tips and information about divorce which you should discuss with your own divorce lawyer.  We are The Goolsby Law Firm, LLC -- father and son divorce attorneys -- located in Augusta, Georgia.  But in this blog, we also try to "jazz it up" a bit by discussing issues presented by various celebrity divorces and separations which might also help you with issues in your own divorce.

Another common thread or theme which runs thoughout this divorce, or family law, blog concerns the fact that Hollywood puts a lot of stress on celebrity marriages.  This has always been true, don't you agree?  And it is equally true that Hollywood is always producing bigger and bigger divorce cases!

Just look at some of the high profile celebrity divorce and/or separation cases we have witnessed in the past year alone!  For instance, in the past year, we have seen, among others, the divorces of Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren, and Sandra Bullock and Jesse James, along with the separations of Larry King, Courtney Cox, Elizabeth Hurley, and many other celebrities.  And now, according to news reports, (and as we discussed yesterday), we are apparently witnessing the separation of actor and former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver. 

Which recent celebrity divorce or separation, in your opinion, has attracted the most attention?  Which recent celebrity divorce or separation surprized you the most?

In conclusion, it appears that some things in life just never change: death, taxes, celebrity divorces, and blogs about family law and celebrity divorces!



Celebrity Divorces: Tiger Woods

Various news reports confirm that the 6 year marriage of world-famous golfer Tiger Woods and his spouse, Elin Nordegren, has finally ended in divorce in a Bay County, Florida courtroom. Much has been already rumored and already written about this relationship. Let's just hope that each of these two parties, (and their kids), can get on with their lives now, without the same intense public scrutiny!

Report: Tiger Woods Divorce Final, Elin Woods to Receive Record $750 Million Settlement
June 30th, 2010 6:47 PM by Free Britney Tags: Elin Woods, Tiger Woods, Celebrity Break-Ups

MSNBC, Fox News and the UK's Sun are reporting that the Tiger Woods-Elin Nordegren divorce is final, with only a filing in Orlando County Court remaining.

"Everything's signed. Elin is ready to file for divorce at Orlando County Court," says an inside source. "She expects to sometime in the next seven days."

The settlement Elin is to receive, which has become the subject of much debate in recent weeks, is reportedly valued in the neighborhood of $750 million.

Yes, three-quarters of a billion dollars, believed to be the biggest payout of a celebrity divorce ever. There are conditions, however, according to reports:

- Tiger may not bring any other females around their children.
- Elin can never publicly speak about his various mistresses.-
- Elin gets full custody of the kids but they share legal custody.

That means Tiger will share decisions about the kids, and as such, Elin will not be able to permanently relocate them to her native Sweden anytime soon.

Tiger's main caveat, though, was that she shut yer yap - for all eternity.

A pal said: "Tiger's main fear is her telling her story after he's rebuilt his reputation, sending him back to the gutter. The price of that sum is her silence."

"Complete confidentiality. No interviews, tell-all books, or TV appearances about this for the rest of her life - even if Tiger dies first - or she'll lose the lot."

Basically, Rachel Uchitel, Jaimee Grubbs, Joslyn James, Devon James and the dozen other hoes we know of ended up costing Tiger about $37.5 million per.

One report suggests that Elin Woods ended up with double the sum she sought after her lawyers determined Tiger is worth much more than $1 billion.

Her friend explained: "Elin's legal team have done a great job digging up all sorts of assets." We would have to say that's the case if the sum is correct.

While it should be noted that The Sun is a British tabloid, the $750 million figure has been reported by more than one source over the past few weeks.

Let's just say we wouldn't bet the under on $500 million anyway.

Phil Mickelson--Masters Champion

After all the reports of Tiger Woods' marital problems and alleged adultery, wasn't it a pleasant change to see a nice family guy win the Masters Golf Tournament yesterday?!

In my opinion, Phil Mickelson is a champion in more ways than one!

And by the way, just because the Goolsby Law Firm is located in Augusta, Georgia, please don't think that you can hit us up for Masters badges next year! Sometimes, it seems, folks from out of town have a better chance to get tickets than us home town people!

Congratulations, Phil Mickelson, Masters champion and Marital champion!

In re Marriage of Woods and Nordegren

Tiger Woods - Elin Nordegren divorce news update: Nordegren consulting Sorrell Trope, star lawyer
BY Nancy Dillon and Corky Siemaszko DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren are reportedly headed for divorce. Elin Nordegren has hired divorce lawyer Sorrell Trope.

Tiger Woods' wife reportedly has the dean of Tinseltown's divorce lawyers on her side as she and the golfing great head for Splitsville.

Nobody has more experience at tearing celebrity marriages asunder than Sorrell Trope, who hung his shingle in 1949 and whose star clients span the generations from Cary Grant and Rod Steiger to Nicole Kidman, Nicolas Cage, Hugh Grant and Britney Spears.

While Trope is no expert on the law in Florida, which is where Elin Nordegren lives, admiring lawyers say he is a hard-nosed negotiator who goes to the mat for whoever can afford him.
Nordegren reportedly signed a prenuptial agreement before she married Tiger, so Trope would most likely be enlisted to hammer out a postnup to give her a bigger piece of Woods' wealth, they said.

"There is just one Sorrell Trope," said Manhattan divorce lawyer Robert Wallack. "He's the dean of the California matrimonial bar.

"He's in a class of maybe 12 or 15 lawyers that handles very high-asset, high-income divorces with contentious custody cases," said Beverly Hills-based family law arbitrator Alexandra Leichter.

Woods, 33, who cheated on his Swedish spouse with a bevy of women, has reportedly offered her millions to stop her from walking away - and taking their two kids.

Wallack said it is not unusual for spurned celebrity spouses to bring in a "big gun" to press their case for more dough - and to walk away richer if they were treated especially badly.
"She might have brought him in to lead the charge," said Wallack, who has represented celebrities like Christie Brinkley and Damon Dash.

Trope, who is 82 and one of the best-paid lawyers in Los Angeles, did not return a call about his reported entry into the Woods saga.

In an earlier interview, the Albany-born lawyer said he got into lawyering because it seemed like a glamorous profession.

"When I was a little boy, on a Saturday you always went to the movies and you saw a double feature and a cartoon," he said.

"And there were some wonderful lawyer movies, and the lawyers were always dressed up and they looked wonderful."

Nordegren, 29, who has stayed silent as the sex scandal swamped her husband, fanned speculation they were splitting up when she appeared in public without her wedding ring - and after she bought an island getaway in her homeland.

The Daily News reported on Wednesday that she was taking the kids with her to spend Christmas in Sweden - and that Woods was staying behind to hang with his buddies.
A day later, People magazine broke the story that Nordegren wanted out of her five-year marriage and several Los Angeles TV stations reported she was consulting Trope.
Nordegren's divorce plans emerged on the same day The Associated Press selected the scandal-scarred golfer as the Athlete of the Decade.

Woods received over a third of the votes cast by AP member editors, who focused on his jaw-dropping exploits on the links - not in the sack.
csiemaszko@nydailynews.com

Divorce: Week in Review

Have you ever seen a week when there was so much "in the news" about divorce? For instance, we learned this week that Tiger Woods and his spouse reportedly might be getting a divorce. No surprise there, right? We also learned that the Gosselin's divorce became final. Great news for all of us who are tired of hearing about it! And we learned that Ivana Trump, who was formerly married to, (and divorced from), Donald Trump, is now reportedly divorcing her fourth husband. Again, no surprise there, right? But did you hear the news that country singer LeAnn Rimes' husband has also reportedly filed for divorce from her?

The news this week that makes me the saddest involves the previous post in this divorce blog concerning David Goldman's ongoing battle to get back his son from his (now deceased) ex-wife's family in Brazil. At the time of the previous post, it appeared that Mr. Goldman had won a much deserved victory in this international child custody battle. But sadly, since the last post, a Brazilian judge has thrown yet another procedural hurdle into Goldman's efforts to take his son home.

Here's hoping that each of these celebrity divorces ends well for each of these parties and that there will continue to be a lot of divorce issues for me to write about in the new year! And here's also hoping that David Goldman soon wins his valiant child custody battle and gets his son back!

Celebrity Divorces: Michael Jordan

Unfortunately, Tiger Woods is not the only sports legend who has experienced "domestic issues." You may recall that, just a few years ago, Michael Jordan, who is, arguably, the greatest basketball player, (or perhaps simply the greatest athlete), of all time, went through one of the costliest divorces in history. According to Wikipedia, Jordan's divorce settlement, in 2006, reportedly cost him $168 million.

Of course, we can hope that Tiger Woods won't end up on the same path as Jordan. But such cases illustrate that no one, not even a great athlete, is immune against "domestic issues."