Total Divorce Blog

Shaquille O’Neal has filed for divorce from his wife, Shaunie.  The couple have been married for nearly five years.  Shaq’s divorce petition says that the relationship is “irretrievably broken”.

Shaq and Shaunie have four children together and each have a child from previous relationships.

The O’Neals live in Miami, where Shaq plays basketball for the Miami Heat.  Their home is currently for sale at an asking price of $32 million.  Shaq’s divorce petition refers to the mansion as the former marital home.

The divorce petition filed by Shaq’s attorneys also says that the couple have a ”Cohabitation/Prenuptial Agreement and Acknowledgment of Property Disclosure and Waiver of Further Disclosure”, and that they will be asking the court to seal their documents.

A child custody dispute between Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston is brewing over their 14 year old daughter, Bobbi Kristina.

Bobby Brown claims that he has been unable to see his daughter since the couple divorced in December and Whitney Houston was given full custody.

Brown went so far as to ask the court to throw out the divorce judgement that ended the couple’s stormy marriage in December.  Houston’s attorneys says it just doesn’t work that way.  They say Brown can contest the custody arrangement or make arrangements to visit his daughter, but he can’t have a divorce judgement dismissed.

The judge in the case has ordered Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston to return to court in October to argue their cases.  She will then decide on the custody issues.

On August 7, Jermaine Jackson appeared in court because his estranged wife had filed court papers saying that while Jackson claims he does not have any money or income,  that is simply not the case.

Her petition also stated that she had concerns about the children’s sleeping arrangments when they are in Jackson’s care, stating that she believes that they sleep in the same room with Jackson and his girlfriend during their time with him.

Alejandra Jackson said in her court papers that she is not receiving any financial support from Jermaine Jackson for herself or her children. As a result she says she drives on an expired registration, is unable to make her car payment and has to borrow money for gas.

Jackson’s estranged wife also claims that he does have money that he made from the UK version of the television show “Big Brother”. She also, with some sarcasm, alluded that Jackson may be transferring his money and assets to his girlfriend to avoid making support payments.

The judge decided to let Jermaine off the hook, for now. On August 7 he was not ordered to start paying child or spousal support. The judge was unable to verify his income, or lack thereof, so they will return to court on September 24 to revisit the issue.

Jackson’s mother was ordered to continue paying the children’s expenses and she must also continue to let Alejandra and the children live in her home for free.

Jermaine Jackson filed for divorce from Alejandra in 2004.

Well, we knew this wouldn’t take long given the recent antics and seemingly unstable mental state of Britney Spears that is being portrayed in the media.

With the ink on the final divorce decree barely dry, today Kevin Federline has officially asked the court to award him more custody of his two sons with Britney Spears.  The documents are sealed, so it is not certain what he is asking the court to do.  The current arrangement is a 50/50 custody split between Federline and Spears. 

We will post more information on this custody battle when it becomes available.

Well, it’s official.  Britney Spears and Kevin Federline are divorced.

The decree finalizing the divorce was signed by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge today.

The only thing that seems unusual about this celebrity divorce is that the judge granted a request by Britney Spears’ attorney to seal some of the documents relating to the case.  Spears’ attorney said that she feared that if certain details were released to the public that it could possibly put the couple’s two young children at risk.  Good for her for thinking of the kids!

You may recall a post here a couple of days ago, in which I said that divorce documents are not usually sealed.  The judge in this case must have agreed with Spears’ attorney and honestly have felt that the children could have been in danger if all of the information was available to the public. 

With the media craze that constantly surrounds Spears, it is probably best that the documents are sealed to give this troubled celebrity and her children a shred of privacy.

Micheal and Dina Lohan, parents of troubled starlet Lindsay Lohan, appeared in Family Court today in Long Island for divorce proceedings.

No one is quite sure how Michael Lohan is supporting himself these days.  The judge was reportedly not happy when Mr. Lohan either couldn’t or wouldn’t explain his current income. 

Michael Lohan was ordered to pay Dina Lohan $500 per week in child support for the next two weeks and in the meantime to work towards securing some type of gainful employment that he can explain to the judge when they return to court on the issue. 

The Lohans will return to court on Monday to work out some other divorce issues.

In most states, when you file for divorce your personal information and financial declarations become public record unless the documents are sealed.

That would seem to be a pretty good reason to ask a judge to seal your paperwork; however, family court judges do not routinely seal divorce documents unless good arguments showing cause are presented.  In other words, unless there’s an extremely good reason, you might as well forget it.  Furthermore, even if there is a good reason, in most cases the documents will not be sealed.

A law was passed in California in 2005 to seal divorce documents containing certain financial information but was quickly invalidated in courts because it was found to have violated the First Amendment.

So, it’s all about public record and First Amendment rights.  That is how tabloids and news outlets regularly get their hands on the income and expense statements as well as the divorce filings of celebrities.

Danny Bonaduce has filed his income and expense declaration in Los Angeles Superior Court as required by the state of California during a divorce.

The very public Bonaduce divorce began in April when the former child star’s wife of 16 years filed for divorce.  She is asking for full custody of the couple’s two minor children, spousal support and attorney’s fees.

From a quick look at Danny Bonaduce’s income and expense declaration, it seems as though he could probably afford to pay quite a bit.  His paperwork claims that he now earns over $29,000 a month as a radio host.  He started working at CBS Radio in January as Adam Carolla’s sidekick on a live radio show. 

Danny estimates that his wife Gretchen makes $3,750 per month from her job at Gravel Tones Productions, Inc. 

Micheal Lohan, who is Lindsay Lohan’s dad, has temporarily suspended all his legal wrangling over child custody and visitation with ex-wife Dina Lohan in order to concentrate now on helping Lindsay with her drug, alcohol and mounting legal problems.

Lindsay Lohan was arrested in the early hours of this morning for her second DUI and cocaine possession after she was seen by police chasing another vehicle in her GMC Denali SUV.  Lohan was formally booked just 5 days ago for DUI in connection with a Memorial Day weekend crash.

Micheal Lohan is on parole and has been barred from having any contact with Lindsay or her lawyer, so details are unclear on how he plans to help her.  If he attempts to contact her it will be a violation of the terms of his parole.  Micheal Lohan was recently released from prison after spending two years behind bars after a DUI conviction.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has admitted to an ongoing relationship with a television reporter on the Telemundo network. He is already in divorce proceedings with his wife Corina and has asked for privacy.

Some have wondered how an affair with a political reporter has effected the Mayor’s credibility. The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that Telemundo says the reporter, Mirthala Salinas was moved off the political beat, which includes coverage of the mayor, about 11 months ago.

In an interesting twist, USA Today asks this question: Will Villaraigosa have to change his name after he and his wife divorce? USA Today reports that the Mayor’s name is a combination of his and his wife’s sir names, Villa and Raigosa. The Los Angeles Daily News says Corina is so upset she wants to change her name back to its original.