UK divorce law has always taken precedent in divorces handled in the UK, but now Islamic courts in the UK have been given the all clear to decide divorce disputes under Sharia law. The courts will have the authority to decide on the disputes between Muslim couples according to Sharia law, including decisions on financial settlements and custody.

The only proviso to the power is that a law court in the UK has to condone any ruling made by the Islamic court.

Ministers in Downing Street had argued that Sharia law shouldn’t have any place in making decisions within the UK because of the way Sharia law sides against women, placing all of the power with men. As Sharia law places more weight on the views of the man it means that men would tend to get the decision over any disagreement, whether that be surrounding money or custody of children.

Critics have claimed however that the decision would help to marginalise minority communities,

Robert Whelan is part of the Civitas think tank, he said of the decision:

The problem with the Government’s attitude is the big question over how far submission to sharia courts is voluntary among Muslim women.

Women who live in some communities may have no option but to go to the sharia court. The case is then rubber-stamped by a family court without any of us knowing how the decision was reached.

David Duchovny, who only recently checked out of rehab for his sex addiction, is getting divorce from his wife, actress Téa Leoni. It is reported that the reason for the divorce is David’s affair with his tennis coach, 28-year-old Edit Parkay. However Edit denies that she’s the reason for the divorce, despite admitting the affair just a few weeks ago.

We played tennis, and we were playing partners and friends. There is no romance, and we are just friends. No love, nothing. That is all I have to say.

David’s lawyer is trying to play down the reported adultery between David and Edit, which would presumably harm any financial settlement between David and Téa. Stanton Stein, divorce lawyer for David Duchovny, said:

Edit Parkay met with me personally before this article came out and told me she never had a sexual or romantic relationship with David.

However it does appear that the affair may work both ways as it’s also reported that Téa Leoni and her co-star in her new film ‘Manure’, Billy Bob Thornton, are also seeing each other.

Téa Leoni herself stated about Billy Bob:

We have this incredible cast with Billy Bob Thornton, who is maybe my new favourite person in the world.

Getting divorced is always stressful, but when there are teenage children involved the stress can be far worse. If you’re going through a divorce and you have teenage children, here is some advice on dealing with them and making sure it’s as easy as possible for them to cope.

The teenager might think that the divorce is their fault, it’s important to reassure them that it’s not. Explain why the relationship has broken down and that it’s not their fault. You should be open about the relationship breakdown and discuss the problems faced by the teenage child.

Above all else, don’t be negative about the other parent as the teenage child will still love them and want to be a part of their lives. It’s also important you try to get along with your former partner for the sake of your child.

It’s also important to reassure the teenager that they’ll receive the financial support of both you and the other parent. If you make promises about things you should stick to them, otherwise you risk the eventuality of the teenager playing you off against your former partner.

Finally you should remain involved in their lives as much of possible. Show that just because your relationship with your partner is over, your teenage child isn’t losing a parent as a result.

Going through a divorce can be an expensive thing, but there are some things you can do to make sure you’re adequately prepared for the eventuality of divorce.

Here are few suggestions to make sure you’re ready when divorce does happen.

Have a pre-nuptial agreement
These are not binding in the UK, but judges can take them into consideration when making a decision on the financial settlement.

Plan your expenses
Make sure you prepare for your legal expenses, you don’t want any nasty surprises when you’re struggling for money.

Get a final consent order
You should make sure to get this so that your ex doesn’t return at a later date for more money!

Gather evidence of finances
Make sure you collate evidence of any of your partner’s assets, their financial income and any gains.

Don’t tell your bank
This may seem odd, but your bank could freeze your account if there is a dispute over money, which would leave you without any finances to fight a legal battle.

Keep expenses records
You should record all of your expenses so that you can prove the standard of living that you’re used to.

Get an estimate
If you’re using a divorce lawyer, make sure you ask for an estimate for costs before you begin. You don’t want costs spiralling after you’ve started proceedings.

A Japanese woman has been arrested by police after she ‘murdered’ a video game character that divorced her video game character in a popular online role playing game.

The game is called ‘Maple Story’ and allows players to build their characters over time, earn weddings and buy products from shops online for their virtual world. The 43-year-old woman, a piano teacher, has admitted breaking into a computer and illegally erasing the character of a man from Sapporo, who divorced her character in the game.

The woman said:

I was suddenly divorced, without a word of warning. That made me so angry.

The game has over 50 million players in Japan and South Korea. The woman told police that when she realised her virtual husband had divorce her she was outraged, resorting in her killing the character.

Police were notified of the crime when the man from Sapporo reported that his character had been deleted. The charges faced by the woman include illegal access to a computer and manipulating electronic data. She faced up to five years in prison for the virtual crime.

According to reports, Heather Mills has already spent half of the money she received in her split from former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney. Mills received £24.3 million from her bitter divorce, and has reportedly already spent £10 million of that money in just seven months.

The former model has spent the money on expensive luxurious holidays, wages for her personal staff and properties around the world, including an apartment in New York. Mills has reportedly spent £500,000 on wages for her staff.

Mills is so concerned about the amount that she’s been spending that she’s even asked Paul to buy her a home in England because she can’t afford it.

A source close to the model stated:

Heather has been moaning her money isn’t going as far as she thought, but she’s just burning her way through it. She reckons she has spent £10 million since the divorce and still doesn’t have a finished house to live in.

Mills has already spent £2.5 million on a property in New York, and another £6 million on properties around the world.

Mills has also had to pay bills from her divorce lawyers and her publicist.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has promised action to better equip children with the all too common problem of dealing with the breakup and divorce of their parents. Backed by tabloid newspaper ‘The Sun’, the Kids In The Middle movement has spurred on the PM reviewing all government services that impact upon children in relation to divorcing parents.

The problem in the UK is great as a quarter of all children under the age of sixteen are the product of broken homes. The Kids In The Middle conducted a survey of over 1,500 parents and children who have separated or divorced, which showed the following results.

• 70% of children claim that the separation or divorce of their parents represented a bad experience for them
• 72% of children admit that having someone to give them advice on the divorce of their parents would have helped
• 74% of parents questioned claim that the behaviour of their children was adversely affected after the divorce
• 93% of all children and parents are in agreement that there needs to be more support on offer for those going through a family break up

As part of the campaign, victims of family break up who had now reached adulthood spoke with the PM about their experiences as children when their families divorced. Gordon Brown was moved by the stories, stating:

What hit me hardest was that these 20 and 30-year-olds weren’t just talking about memories from the past, they were telling me how their adult lives had been scarred by their experiences as children.

Watching their mother and father break up had damaged their own ability to find partners and robbed them of the normal relationships we all depend on with parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters.

As a result of the action the PM has instructed that all services that deal with children are to be reviewed, including social services and schools.

It can be difficult to remember that your children are also affected by the divorce of their parents, especially when you’re embroiled in a bitter dispute with your ex over custody, access or finances. You do need to remember though that although you no longer get on with your ex, your children still see them as a parent, and they should be respected as such.

Here is some on advice on dealing with a divorce so that it’s as easy as it can be for your children.

Your ex is still a parent
When talking about your ex try to refer to them as the mother or father of your children, rather than your ex-husband or ex-wife. You should realise the importance they have in your children’s lives then and learn to respect them for that, even though you don’t agree with them on other matters.

Don’t run them down in front of the children
It’s important that you don’t bad mouth your ex in front of your children. Your children will be concerned that their parents aren’t as happy as they should be and will wonder where they stand. Reassure your children that both parents still love them and want to be a part of their lives.

Don’t use access to children as a bargaining chip
It’s of the utmost importance that children have regular access to both parents, so you shouldn’t treat access to your children as something with which you can barter for money, property or anything else. Your children have a right to see both parents and you should respect that right.

Remember that your children are intelligent people capable of picking up on your emotions, don’t let your anger or bitterness towards your ex cloud their feelings.

When your parents divorce it can be very difficult coping with the stress, especially for younger children. The grief of having to divide time between two parents who are at odds with each other can be very difficult indeed, but there are some things you can do to make it easier on you, and your parents.

Don’t blame yourself
You may worry that your parents splitting up might have been your fault. It’s rarely anything to do with the children, and there’s certainly nothing you can do about it. Don’t blame yourself for their actions.

Don’t take sides
Typically parents going through divorce can be quite bitter towards each other, and they can sometimes moan about each other to you. Don’t take anyone parent’s side on the matter, just tell them that you love them both. It’s unfair of either parent to put you in the middle of their argument.

Stay in contact with both parents
It’s important for you and for your parents that you have regular with both parents. Not seeing your father will cause him a great deal of distress, and vice versa.

Talk to your friends about it
We all need help and advice every now and then, so confide in your friends about what is going on at home. They may even have experienced a similar thing at home themselves and could advise you on what to expect.

Remember that your parents still want to be a part of your life, even if they no longer want to be a part of each other’s.

Pregnancy is a very common reason for marriage, with many people feeling compelled to get married when they learn that a child is on the way. It’s never the right reason though, and marriages born out of the birth of an impending child are unlikely to work.

Just as pregnancy is a common reason to get married, the lack of a child has been granted as a reason to get divorced in a court in Korea. A court ruled on Thursday that a thirty-year-old-man could justifiably divorce his wife on the grounds that she faked her pregnancy in order to get him to wed her in the first place.

When the couple met in November the woman told him that she was pregnant, resulting in the pair marrying just months later in May.

However the woman did admit that she wasn’t pregnant, resulting in the man moving out and filing for divorce.

The judge stated about the case:

The marriage would have never taken place hadn’t she told him about the pregnancy. Also, concealing her health status that could be critical to the birth of a child is a big lie affecting the rest of the marriage.