Total Divorce Blog

Last December, Michael Jordan and wife had a divorce settlement on the table, ready and waiting for the former Chicago Bulls superstar’s signature. Now, after a year of negotiations over the particulars of the settlement, Jordan has reportedly signed off on the final amount to be paid to his ex-wife, Juanita Jordan.

Jordan will hand over a reported record $168 million to his ex, sources claim. This would make the settlement the largest ever celebrity divorce settlement, besting the $150 million that Neil Diamond paid to his ex-wife Marcia Murphey.

The London Times, which broke the story, claims that part of the settlement includes Jordan’s seven-acre ranch in Chicago, and also includes custody of their three children.

The story also reports that Jordan may have gotten off easy. Jordan had signed a prenuptial agreement that entitled her to half of his considerable fortune. With estimates that he is worth as much as $550 million, it turns out that Juanita has decided to take only around a third of his worth.

Well, it seems that reality tv is great for one thing - getting people into divorce court!

On November 20, Linda Marie Bollea filed for divorce from Terry Gene Bollea.  Not familiar with this couple?  They are none other than Mr. and Mrs. (for now) Hulk Hogan.

The couple appeared to be having marital problems during their reality tv show on VH1, and then in August, their son Nick Hogan was involved in a car accident which has left his friend in a vegetative state.  Nick has been charged with reckless driving in connection with the accident.

Velma Warren Brown, 73, must have a terrible memory.  She thought she was still married to soul singer James Brown at the time of his death, although they divorced in 1969!

The ex-Mrs. James Brown filed papers in Aiken, South Carolina and claimed that she and James Brown had married in 1953 but never divorced.  She was right about one of those allegations, and sadly mistaken about the other.

Velma Warren married James Brown in 1953 when he was working as a janitor.  They were legally divorced on August 6, 1969.

Had she not divorced the “Godfather of Soul”, his other three marriages would have been invalid.  Velma would have stood to inherit about $100 million that his kids and other family members are now fighting to get.

Actor Brad Garrett, best known for his role on “Everybody Loves Raymond”, and his wife Jill Diven have officially ended their seven year marriage. Diven filed for divorce from Garrett in April, 2006.

The divorce was recently finalized with Garrett agreeing to pay Diven $20,000 per month in child support for the couple’s two children and $35,000 per month in spousal support until the end of 2018 unless Divin remarries or one of them dies before then. Divin will also receive half of Garrett’s profit participation money from “Everybody Loves Raymond”.

The couple will share legal and physical custody of their kids.

Months ago, Total Divorce detailed the criminal case of Darren Mack, a Reno businessman who was accused of murdering his wife and then shooting the judge that presided over his bitter divorce case, and here’s the latest information on this case which drew national headlines and was featured on CBS’ 48 Hours. Yesterday afternoon, Mack pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and also entered an Alford plea to an attempted murder charge. By doing so, Mack basically acknowledged that there was enough evidence for a conviction on this attempted murder charge without having to plead guilty to it.

During his 2005 divorce with his wife Charla, Darren Mack apparently felt that Chuck Weller, the divorce judge presiding over his case, was treating his wife more favorably. On June 12th of that year, Mack stabbed his wife to death and then fired shots into the judge’s chambers in which Weller was located. Weller was hit with shrapnel but survived. Mack later turned himself in to police in Mexico a week later.

Yesterday Commissioner Scott Gordon released his ruling on the pending custody matter between Britney Spears and Kevin Federline.

Spears had wanted to resume the original 50/50 custody split and have the two children come back to live with her.  Federline was reportedly fighting for a 70/30  custody split with the children in his primary care.

Commissioner Gordon reviewed the report that was submitted by the parenting coach in making his decision.  The coach reportedly had less than glowing remarks about Spears’ interaction with the children and said that she lacks focus.  The report did note that the coach didn’t notice any signs of the traditional types of abuse going on in Spears’ home.  The coach had visited Spears’ home on three occasions.

Taking all things into consideration, Gordon decided that it would be best for the children to reside with Federline for now.

Spears was ordered to child proof her pool area by Friday.  Also according to the order she will be allowed three monitored visits with the children each week.  That will include two daytime visits and one overnight.

The custody battle between Spears and Federline is scheduled to resume in April.  While their divorce is final, it seems that the custody dispute may never really be resolved

As soon as the final paperwork is filed the divorce between actress Kate Hudson and musician Chris Robinson will be officially final.

Hudson and Robinson have both signed the final divorce paperwork and it has been submitted to the court for final approval and processing.  The famous pair were married for about six years.

Robinson was the plaintiff in the case.  He filed for a divorce from Hudson last November amidst rumors that she was involved with Owen Wilson.

No nasty custody battle here.  The pair have agreed to share custody of their son, Ryder, who is almost four years old.  There will also be no fighting over money.  The couple had a pre-nuptial agreement and Robinson did not seek any spousal support payments.

As far as celebrity divorces go, this one was fairly uneventful.

Jermaine Jackson and his ex-wife Alejandra were in family court today to settle matters of child support and custody of their children.

Things didn’t go so well for Jermaine. The judge ordered him to begin paying child and spousal support and refused to give him the 50/50 custody arrangement he had wanted.

Jermaine reportedly only sees his sons, Jaffar and Jermajesty, on alternating weekends. Alejandra says that he is an unfit parent because he does no help them with homework, give them lunch money and forgets to pick them up from school. It seems that those would all be difficult and unnecessary tasks for every other weekend visitation though.

The judge did not grant Jermaine’s request for 50/50 custody, but instead ordered the pair to work on their custody arrangement through mediation.

Jermaine got another smack down in court when the judge ordered him to catch up on child and spousal support payments. He now must pay Alejandra $11,511 per month in support, retroactive to July 1.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has announced that he and his wife, Cecilia, are divorcing. The couple had been married for 11 years.

Sarkozy came into office as the President of France about six months ago, and his wife Cecilia has shown little interest in the whole ‘First Lady’ gig. Sometimes she would appear in public with her husband, and then sometimes not, whatever fit into her busy schedule. She once even snubbed the American First Lady, Laura Bush, by not appearing with her husband for a lunch date with President and Mrs. Bush and instead going shopping with friends.

The pair have appeared before a judge with their lawyer and said that it is a mutual decision to end their marriage.

In the ongoing saga that is the Britney Spears and Kevin Federline child custody battle, after a hush-hush hearing yesterday, today it was announced that Spears has lost visitation privileges with her two young boys.

Apparently the court is frustrated that Spears does not seem to be taking the court orders seriously.  It has been reported that the telephone number that the drug screening professionals were given was that of a cell phone belonging to an ex-assistant of Spears’.  Since Spears has been ordered to undergo mandatory random drug screening, the inability to contact her has frustrated the process.

Spears and Federline are due back in court on October 26.  Perhaps by then Spears will have complied with the court order and be able to have visitation with the kids again.