'Sister Wives' Kody Brown Divorces One Wife To Marry Another

Get ready for a big shake-up on TLC's "Sister Wives."

The reality show's patriarch Kody Brown has divorced one woman so he can marry another, E! Online has confirmed. Before the divorce, Brown was only legally married to Meri, but called three other women his spouses: Janelle, Christine and Robyn. Under the radar, Brown recently divorced Meri and is now legally wed to Robyn, the youngest sister wife.

"We have chosen to legally restructure our family," the Brown family said in a statement obtained by E! News. "We made this decision together as a family. We are grateful to our family, friends and fans for all their love and support."

Though neither Brown nor TLC explained why the family went forward with the divorce, entertainment website Zap2it suggests the swap may have been made to provide Robyn's three kids from a previous relationship with more security within the family.

Between the four wives, the Browns have 17 children.

In the past, Brown has said that his plural marriage is similar to any other marriage in that all of his wives are free to walk away from the relationship at any time.

"We chose to be married," he told Today in 2013. "Nobody forced us to do this, and we choose to stay in it out of love and commitment. Just like any marriage. I hate to say it, because I don’t like divorce -– nobody likes that –- but my wives are free to leave, if they make that choice."

Source:- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/03/sister-wives-kody-brown-divorce-_n_6606476.html

I Had No Idea Our Marriage Was In Dire Trouble.

This is from a forum.......
========================

Michele wants to share this letter with all of you.

Dear Michele:

This week my husband and I celebrate our sixteenth marriage anniversary. Eight months ago I did not see this as even the most remote possibility. The week before Christmas 2010 my husband told me he was no longer attracted to me....I was old, fat, and turning into my mother. His revelation caught me totally unaware. I had absolutely no idea our marriage was in such dire trouble. I initially experienced denial of the situation and convinced myself that I could do something to fix the way my husband felt about me. I obsessed over thinking it was my fault and believed I could remedy the problems if only I was thinner, younger looking and more attractive. Then... the ugly truth surfaced. I discovered my husband was having an affair with a woman twenty years my junior. My world imploded. I threw up every time I tried to eat, lost thirty pounds in two months, never slept, developed anxiety and panic attacks, depression, and hypertension.

Everywhere I turned for support, including my therapist, my doctor, my sister and even my husband's mother, I got the very same advice.... file for divorce and just move on. In my shroud of hopelessness and helplessness I did just that...I filed for divorce. In doing so I felt like I had decided to commit suicide but, when it came to pulling the trigger, I just could not follow through on obtaining a divorce. I had an ever-present, niggling thought that divorce was just not the correct solution.

Research led me to your books Divorce Busting and The Divorce Remedy. Your books led me to your website and your website led me to your Divorce Busting Telephone Coaching program. The first day I called and spoke with Karen I could hardly breath. Karen's calm and reassuring approach gave me the first hopeful moment I had experienced since my nightmare began. I began working with Cheryl alone as my husband would have no part of it. Her intervention immediately helped me gain perspective, insight and a sense of control back in my life. A few months into my telephone coaching sessions with Cheryl my husband finally quit running in the opposite direction of our marriage. I am still speaking with Cheryl on a regular basis and, in fact, my husband agreed to speak with her for the first time last week! I am certain that if I had not found Divorce Busting I would be embroiled in an acrimonious divorce today instead of celebrating our 16th anniversary.

I will be forever grateful to Cheryl and your program for giving me the tools I needed to change my behavior. I gained clarity, perspective, insight and confidence. Most importantly, I developed the courage to say no to the traditional antidote our society prescribes for infidelity......divorce.

Please accept my heartfelt gratitude for helping me choose love and save my marriage. Thank you.

Best,

M

_________________________
Virginia Peeples
Vice President
The Divorce Busting Center

Transform your marriage with a 1-day or 2-day private intensive session with Michele. 

A Divorce Busting Coach can help you save your marriage, even when your spouse wants out.

Email virginia@divorcebusting.com or 303-444-7004 for more information or to get started right away.

Source:- http://www.divorcebusting.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2171210#Post2171210

Divorce and Dissolution of Civil Partnership (Scotland)

How do I apply for divorce/dissolution of civil partnership?

There are two types of procedure that can be used in Scotland to apply for divorce and dissolution of civil partnership. These are often known as the ‘simplified’ or ‘do-it-yourself’ procedure and the ‘ordinary’ or ‘non simplified’ procedure. These applications can be raised in the sheriff court or Court of Session but there are different procedures and forms used and different fees charged dependant on where you raise the claim.

Which divorce procedure?

Simplified/do it yourself procedure

You can only use the simplified procedure if you can say yes to all of these statements:

• I am applying for divorce/dissolution because of the irretrievable breakdown of my marriage/partnership based on one year separation with consent or two years separation without consent, or because of the issue of an interim gender recognition certificate;
• There are no children of the marriage/partnership under the age of 16;
• There are no financial matters to sort out;
• I am not and there is no sign that my spouse or civil partner is not able to manage his or her affairs because of mental illness, personality disorder or learning disability;
• There are no other court proceedings under way which might result in the end of my marriage / civil partnership.

If you have said no to any of these questions, then you cannot use the simplified procedure and we would recommend seeking legal advice as the ‘ordinary’/’non simplified’ procedure will need to be used.

More information including forms and guidance for the simplified/do it yourself procedure

Ordinary/non simplified procedure

Where you have not been able to meet the criteria for the simplified procedure, you will need to use the ordinary procedure. This is a more complicated procedure and therefore we would highly recommend that you take some legal advice.

See more information on the ordinary/non simplified procedure

How much does it cost to lodge the application with the court?

The fees for divorce will depend on whether you are using the simplified or ordinary procedure and whether the application is lodged in the sheriff court or Court of Session.

Court fees are payable for lodging these applications in court. You may be entitled to fee exemption, for example if you receive certain state benefits, see Court Fees for more information.

Download the Fee Exemption Form

These fees do not include any fees you may need to pay if you have instructed a solicitor to help you. The solicitor can give you information on these costs.

Frequently asked questions

The answers to the most common questions relating to divorce/dissolution of civil partnership can be found on the Frequently Asked Questions page.

Further Information

If you have any further questions about simplified divorce or dissolution of civil partnership, please contact your local sheriff court, or the Court of Session if you plan to send your application there.

Where can I get legal advice?

Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service staff are not legally qualified and cannot provide you with legal advice. If you need legal advice, or information on eligibility for legal aid or assistance, the Law Society of Scotland can provide contact details for solicitors in your area.

Please Note: The information provided cannot cover every situation which might arise in the course of a claim. You should also note that the guidance is not the authority upon which the procedure is based. The formal authority is contained in the court rules.

Source:- https://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/taking-action/divorce-and-dissolution-of-civil-partnership

Marriage and the Family

The Christian institute

Section:

Marriage and the Family

Headings:

Facts | Key Statistics | Biblical Arguments 1
Church Viewpoints | Biblical Arguments 2 | Key Points

Facts

The five basic grounds for divorce are the same throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland¹:

1. Adultery
2. Unreasonable behaviour
3. Desertion
4. The parties to the marriage have lived apart for at least two years and both consent to the divorce
5. The parties have lived apart for at least five years

• The first three grounds are ‘faults’ that can be committed by one spouse against the other, allowing the ‘innocent’ spouse to apply for a divorce. Grounds 4 and 5 are ‘no-fault’ grounds requiring evidence of separation.
• Divorce was only legalised in 1857. Prior to that an Act of Parliament was needed to obtain a divorce. The 1857 Matrimonial Causes Act permitted divorce for the innocent party where their spouse had committed adultery.² The grounds for divorce were widened in 1937 to include desertion, cruelty and incurable insanity.³
• The 1969 Divorce Reform Act restated the three existing fault grounds of adultery, desertion and cruelty (widened to ‘unreasonable behaviour’) and added the two ‘no-fault’ separation grounds. Scotland and Northern Ireland subsequently adopted the same five grounds.
• The so-called ‘special procedure’ introduced in England and Wales in 1973 means a divorce can be conducted by post. In Northern Ireland the divorce rate is only a quarter of that in England and Wales. There must be a proper hearing before a judge where the reasons are explained. There is no special procedure where divorce is obtainable by post.
• The Family Law (Scotland) Act 2005 dramatically reduces the amount of time required for a divorce on the grounds of separation in Scotland. The five year period where one party does not consent has been reduced to two years. Where both parties consent the time period has been reduced from two years to one. The Act also abolishes desertion as a ground for divorce; though adultery and unreasonable behaviour remain.

Key Statistics

• In 2003 there were 166,700 divorces in the United Kingdom. In 2003 the percentage of married couples divorcing per year in England and Wales was 1.4%. In Scotland it was 1.0%.⁴
• More than half of divorces in England and Wales involve children under 16. In 2003, 55% of divorces involved one or more children under 16.⁵In 1997 it was calculated that more than one in four children will see their parents divorce before they are aged sixteen.⁶
• In 2001 11.5% of children lived in households headed by a divorced or separated parent (see table below). It still needs to be remembered that over 70% of children lived in a household headed by a married couple.

% of dependant children living in households by household type7
70.7	Married couple
6.5	Divorced parent
5.0	Separated parent
9.5	Cohabiting
7.2	Single parent, never married
1.2	Widowed

• For many years the UK had the highest crude divorce rate in the EU. ⁸
• In 2002, the UK had the 6th highest crude divorce rate (divorces per 1,000 population) out of the 25 countries in the Eurozone. Only Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia and Lithuania had a higher rate.⁹

Would You Get An Online Divorce?

Would you get divorced online? It's relatively cheap and fast - but it does have its drawbacks.

If you type 'quick divorce' into Google, a series of adverts for quickie online divorce sites pop up. One says it can offer a quick divorce from £37, another for £45.

With solicitors' bills running from between £100 and £200 an hour - and legal aid largely no longer available for family law cases - thousands of people are logging on for DIY divorces.

But don't be fooled by the cheap prices. The bare bones of the legal process will cost you £410 and that's just for the court fees.

Plus, you have to pay up whether you use a website to sort out your divorce or a solicitor.

Live-In Divorce

They make small talk; they have bagels together on Saturday mornings; they share a car. While they are watching TV, one of them might say, "By the way, have you gotten a moment to look at the divorce papers?" They make jokes like "Don't break that dish—it's not yours, it's mine." Still, "It's a tiny house and it seems to get smaller every day," Fern says. She longs to get away from Rick—whose emotional dependence on her makes her feel guilty—and get on with her life.

This is the best of all possible live-in divorces. More typical is the mean version. But there is one practical solution: If living together becomes too uncomfortable, the partner staying behind can pay his mate to move out. Deborah Sterne* is doing that. A 42-year-old costume designer making $60,000 a year, she's spent eighteen months living with the man she's divorcing, 44-year-old Mark*, an actor.

He came up with the standard hassling techniques: bursting into her room constantly to dress and shower, pursuing her around the apartment, even shoving his way into her room against her attempts to shut the door. Sharing responsibility for their five-year-old son and eight-year-old daughter, they communicated mostly by notations in the Metropolitan Museum datebook by the kitchen telephone.

Their lawyers advised them to stay, but Deborah eventually caved in. She has agreed to borrow heavily to pay Mark his share of the equity in their $600,000 Village co-op. Will the high interest payments be worth it? She tosses her mane of ringlets and beams a meltdown smile: "Yeah!"

Divorcing Women: Don't Fall Victim To Your Husband's Tax Shenanigans

It’s that time of year again: Americans everywhere are gathering their tax documents, visiting their accountants, filling out the proper forms, and submitting their income tax returns to the Internal Revenue Service. The process isn’t necessarily “easy.” Every year, the tax code seems to get increasingly nuanced and complicated, and if you’re a divorcing woman, you could be facing additional unique challenges, as well.

The potential tax trouble for you as a divorcing woman primarily lies in filing a joint return with your husband. It’s could be dangerous financially, because if it should come to light later that taxes have been underpaid, it won’t matter to the IRS which of you was responsible. If the return was filed jointly, the government can go after you both… even if you didn’t personally earn one dime of the reported income! What’s more, you will still be liable for errors and omissions in joint tax returns even after your divorce.

Some women insist that their divorce settlement agreements should include a provision that if there are tax issues to be rectified down the road, their ex-husbands are responsible. On the surface, that sounds reasonable, and you can certainly hope that your husband would abide by such a provision. Understand, however, that the IRS is not bound by your divorce settlement agreement, no matter what it says about who is responsible for taxes. As far as the government is concerned, if you’ve signed the tax return, you own the consequences… and if taxes are owed, you can be sure they will come after you, as well as your ex, for payment.

This can be a tremendous burden if your husband has underreported income, hidden assets, and/or claimed improper deductions or tax credits, or engaged in other dishonest shenanigans. Taxes, interest, and penalties can quickly add up to staggering amounts, and you could find yourself owing the federal (and your state) government many thousands of dollars through no fault of your own.

How can you protect yourself against being pursued for tax debt that isn’t fairly yours?

Well, first of all, if you have even an inkling that your husband is not approaching his taxes with total honesty and integrity, you should think about filing a separate tax return. Under the provisions for “Married Filing Separate” (MFS) status, you would be responsible only for taxes on income subject to reporting on your individual return. Using MFS status might mean that in total, you and your husband will pay more in taxes than if you’d filed jointly, but believe me, it will be worth it not to be considered responsible for a fraudulent return.

If it’s too late to file separately, all is not lost. The IRS recognizes that there are innocent spouses who sign joint income tax returns unaware that anything was amiss, and further recognizes that these innocent spouses need to be protected. In fact, you can formally apply for Innocent Spouse Relief, which may absolve you of responsibility for paying tax, interest, and penalties if your husband is found to have made false statements on your joint return.

Obtaining innocent spouse status isn’t a walk in the park, however, and it doesn’t happen in an instant. You will have to prove that at the time you signed the joint tax return, you didn’t know, and further, that you had no reason to know, that there was an understatement of tax. That can be difficult to establish in all but the most black-and-white circumstances. Indeed, you might need a forensic accountant to help make your case.

To decide whether you qualify for relief, the IRS will consider your financial situation, your education and business experience, and even whether or not you asked any questions about items on the return when you signed it. They may determine that you qualify for partial relief, i.e. that you might have known about some of the understated income, but had no reason to know about another portion.

My advice is to be proactive, and not to leave it to the IRS to determine how much you know about your marital income and tax situation. As with so many financial matters, it is always better to be knowledgeable early on. The more you know about your husband’s business, the less likely you are to sign a joint tax return you can’t stand behind.

For more information, as well as forms and requirements for applications for Innocent Spouse Relief, visit the IRS’s web page on Tax Information for Innocent Spouses.

_

Jeff Landers is the author of the Amazon best-selling books, Divorce: Think Financially, Not Emotionally – What Women Need To Know About Securing Their Financial Future Before, During, And After Divorce, Volumes I & II, and the forthcoming book, Think Financially, Not Emotionally® – A Woman’s Guide To Financial Security After Divorce (to be published late 2015).

All articles/blog posts are for informational purposes only, and do not constitute legal advice. If you require legal advice, retain a lawyer licensed in your jurisdiction. The opinions expressed are solely those of the author, who is not an attorney.

Source:- http://www.forbes.com/sites/jefflanders/2015/04/01/divorcing-women-dont-fall-victim-to-your-husbands-tax-shenanigans/

        

'Kids Are Resilient' And 7 Other Lies Divorcing Parents Should Stop Believing

Photo Credit: iStock

As a former divorce mediator, and current couples and family mediator, I have heard every excuse that parents use to feel better about breaking up their family. In this article, I’ve outlined several of the most common lies that you might be telling yourself if you’re considering divorce. Before you believe them, or give up on your marriage, you might want to check out my Marriage SOS book series and do some serious soul-searching.

1. My kids want me to be happy.
No, your kids want their biological mom and dad to get their act together, behave like grownups, and create a stable, happy home for them. Kids are focused on their own happiness and childhood gives them that privilege.

2. My kids will be better off.
Probably not. Research shows that children of divorce experience higher rates of emotional and behavioral problems. They are also more likely to experience poverty and mistreatment, whether it is outright abuse or cruel indifference, from an unrelated adult in the home.

3. My next marriage will be better.
That’s unlikely. Second and subsequent marriages have higher divorce rates than first marriages. Why? Because people rarely change and tend to repeat the same poor behaviors. Plus, subsequent marriages often involve stepkids and blended families, which ramps up the drama and conflict all the more.

4. My relationship with my children won’t change.
Yes, it will. A parent who does not live under the same roof as his or her child cannot have the same stature or influence in that child’s life as a parent who does. Whether it’s a 2 a.m. nightmare or a house fire, you’re simply not there to do your job.

Regardless of the reason for the divorce, chances are good that at some point, your child will resent you for breaking up the family unit. Even worse, your child will likely blame him/herself, rationalizing that he/she was not “lovable” enough for the biological parents to work through their problems.

5. I won’t have any regrets.
You probably will. Once emotions have cooled and you have your distance, you’ll look back and wonder whether you should have worked harder to save your marriage and family. This regret will deepen as you move into old age and realize you will never feel the pride that comes with having your children and grandchildren admire you as the family patriarch or matriarch.

6. We shouldn’t stay together for the kids.
Actually, I can’t think of a better reason to stay and work through your problems with humility and determination. Help is out there for those who have the strength of character to be accountable and ask for it.

7. Divorce will solve my problems.
If you have kids together, divorce won’t solve your problems; it will only create a new set of problems. You will worry about your ex-husband’s new girlfriend, and whether she’ll call you if your child gets sick or scared. You will worry about your ex-wife’s new boyfriend, and whether he’s the one giving your child a bath.

Don’t fool yourself. It’s unlikely your ex-spouse will remain single for long, and once he or she starts dating, you will have no control over the strangers that waltz in and out of your child’s life.

8. Kids are resilient and will adapt to the new situation.
Think this won’t affect them in the long-term? Kids don’t adapt … they make do. When you break up their home or bring your new love interests into their life, they hunker down emotionally and do their best to cope. Like it or not, you have taught them that love is unreliable. As adults, children of divorce are more likely to also be divorced and break up their own families.

Of course, divorce isn’t always a bad thing. It’s the best course of action in some cases, such as abuse, unmanaged personality disorders and infidelity, to name a few. There are rare cases where one spouse is entirely at fault and where kids are better off having a destructive or dangerous parent out of their home or even out of their life.

But the fact is, most broken homes are caused by two self-focused, short-sighted adults who wallow in their own misery and rancor for each other, instead of keeping their promises to work through their problems—to put their spouse’s needs ahead of their own and to see conflict from his or her point of view; to put their obligations as parents above their own pettiness as partners and to do whatever it takes to bring happiness back into their marriage and home.

Frankly, I don’t see a lot of people doing this. They’re quick to anger, quick to blame, and quick to bail. They always think the grass will be greener over the next fence. Personally and professionally, I think it’s time for spouses to put family obligation at the top of the list, far above the shifting sands of personal desires.

Why? Because obligation provides staying power. A sense of obligation toward your spouse and children is the glue that keeps the home together through the weak and angry spots, giving strength and love a chance to return. It binds a couple together while they work through their problems.

A sense of obligation to others is a virtue, but it’s one that our self-focused culture has largely abandoned. The ancient Romans called it pietas. In its loosest sense, it was the highly-esteemed “sacred duty” to one’s biological family, one that superseded self-interest. It’s an Old World virtue that the New World would be wise to embrace.

Debra Macleod is a YourTango Expert and couples’ mediator turned relationship author-expert who uses her extensive training, experience and skill set to help individuals and couples save their relationships, avoid divorce and make positive changes to their family and personal lives.

Source:- https://www.yahoo.com/parenting/kids-are-resilient-and-7-other-lies-divorcing-107330654983.html

         

Divorcing Mothers Warned.....

Divorcing mothers warned to fight for a slice of their ex-husband's pension or face financial loss in later life 

Stay-at-home mothers should fight for a slice of their ex-husband’s pension when they split or risk financial strife in retirement, the pensions minister warned yesterday.

Steve Webb said there was not enough emphasis placed on valuable gold-plated pensions when couples negotiated their divorce settlement.

It means thousands of divorcees – but particularly women who have taken a career break at some point to care for children – face being reliant on the State pension in old age.

Divorced mothers have been warned to seek part of their ex-husband's pensions or face financial loss in later life, especially if they have taken time out from their career to rear children, photograph posed by models

Mr Webb said divorce lawyers should be ‘encouraged to always make sure this is properly part of the negotiations and is on the table’.

The Liberal Democrat MP said workplace pensions were often ‘an after-thought’, but urged people not to overlook its worth.

He said: ‘If you are part of a couple and you do not take out a pension for family reasons – whether that is caring for children or family in later life – and then you split up on the eve of retirement, there is a danger there.

‘It is tempting to think about your immediate needs such as the house and the kids, but it is very important we make sure that pension share issue is at the forefront.

‘There is a risk the pension becomes an after-thought and that people think ‘I will worry about that at retirement’. But a pension, and particularly if it is final salary, is very valuable and that future value is not always easy to grasp’.

Earlier in the day, he spoke on the issue at a conference hosted by the Resolution Foundation think tank, in which he said the impact of divorce on pension income was ‘one of the elephants in the room’.

Pensions Minister Steve Webb, pictured, said that pensions were often seen as 'an afterthought' in divorce

He said: ‘We have got a problem with divorce. Many people – women particularly – take career breaks or take time out to have kids and then go back in having missed out [on pension contributions].

‘If a couple stay together in retirement then, between them they are fine, but what if they split up in their fifties?’.

About four in 10 marriages in the UK now end in divorce, according to official figures.

Pensions are frequently people’s biggest asset in divorce after the family home and can be split or shared in several ways.

Court agreements can be obtained for ‘pension sharing’, which involves signing over a percentage share of the pension to the ex-partner.

Alternatively, people can offset the pension against other assets – for example, one may receive a bigger share of the family home in return for the other keeping their pension.

Others agree to receive a deferred lump sum when their partner retires.

Mr Webb said there were no ‘quick fixes’ for the problem, but called for an increased awareness among divorcees of the future value of pensions.

He said: ‘In theory we have pension sharing on divorce and pension splitting.

‘But the reality is that it doesn’t work terribly well. Your average divorce lawyer is focused on the house and, if you have still got kids, are you really going to haggle hard over a share of the pension?’.

Family lawyer Marilyn Stowe said the lower-earner was often given immediate capital, such as the house or a lump sum, while longer-term assets such as pensions were often ‘left in the hands of the other party’.

She said: ‘I agree that the long-term needs should never be ignored but circumstances tend to dictate an emphasis on immediate needs.’

Mrs Stowe said that law firms and courts would ‘never forget such a valuable asset’ in negotiations, but that couples who came to an informal agreement could make mistakes. She added: ‘With legal aid no longer available for divorce, lots of couples may think they cannot afford a lawyer and could overlook the value of pensions.’

Caroline Abrahams, of Age UK, said: ‘It’s important that everyone is encouraged to put money aside for later life.

‘Age UK believes older people should be offered periodic ‘financial MOTs’ so that they know how resilient they are financially. That includes understanding, if you are part of a couple, what happens to your pension when your partner dies or if your situation changes for other reasons.’ 

Source:- http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2950074/Divorcing-mothers-warned-fight-slice-ex-husband-s-pension-face-financial-loss-later-life.html