‘They won’t last long’, is a comment being used more and more these days. Of course back in the good old days couples used to stay together and work through their problems. Whether its today’s society of having no time or whether it’s just the ‘done’ thing, but quickie marriages are often followed by quicker divorces. Some blame can be put on the age of Celebrity glamorising divorce with a marriage break-up seemingly every week. This in turn has made it ‘cool’ in the schoolyard to have divorced parents. But is Divorce a good thing or bad? True, it goes against a number or religious opinions, but surely if being happy means that a couple divorce then it must be a good thing.

Some would argue though, that too many couples take the easy route out. With so many divorce lawyers to pick from, it has never been easier to end an unhappy marriage. Instead of talking things over and working through problems, ‘once happy’ couples are now choosing the ‘easy’ way. Maybe the ‘fast’ society we live in means that couples no longer have the time to spend with each other. Whereas once a wife stayed home and looked after the children and house work, while the husband worked his 9-5 job, nowadays both husband and wife work, often different hours. This in turn means that the marriage suffers and the Divorce Solicitors get another client.

And that is the point, the fact that it is so easy to divorce and start again these days. Who’d heard of a divorce lawyer 30 or 40 years ago? That is why our grandparents are either still going strong after a 50 year marriage or, god forbid, widowed. Because they worked through, spoke and resolved any differences they had. Not because they were happy to, but because they had to, because back then to divorce was to admit failure. Today, to divorce is to do the right thing in the circumstances, which often makes it the easy way.

No matter how much you try, the arguments you have when you are contemplating divorce will affect your children in some way. Most children of divorced parents have war stories of hearing their parents’ hushed recriminations in the background while they pretended not to hear. While most parents think to discuss the reason the divorce lawyers are coming in, few remember to confront the issue at its source: why you are arguing.

Most divorcing couples will find a time to sit down with their children and explain divorce. This is a good technique for clearing your children’s confusion about the process of divorce, and can be used to resolve the emotional confusion they feel over seeing their parents argue. Use this time to talk to your children about your arguments, and address the fact that you and your ex are sometimes angry at each other. While instinctively you might want to shield your children from this aspect of divorce, it is something they will be seeing without your knowledge. During your talk, explain that sometimes parents get angry at each other, just like anyone. Let your children see that, in this aspect at least, you are human, while reassuring them that arguments don’t affect your feelings for them.

Your conversation doesn’t have to delve into the deep reasons for your divorce. The source of a child’s puzzlement will be why their parents are angry at each other. Doing this before the divorce solicitors get involved is preferable, mainly because it will explain the situation as it is happening. Remember, it is important to not only explain the process of a divorce, but the things you are going through as their parents. Being open with your children (within their limits of understanding) will save a lot of grief in the long run.

Many couples spend months, sometimes even years arguing over who gets what in their divorce settlements in the divorce courts. Their divorce lawyers make offers, only to have them rejected and counter offers made in their place. All the while the assets of the couple diminish further to a point where there’s very little left.

It’s like the new gameshow on ITV on weekday afternoons, Divided. The ideal of the gameshow is that three people who have never met answer questions as a team. They have to agree on the answer before choosing it, and the quicker they answer the more money they win. When they eventually decide that they’ve had enough and want to take the money in case they get too money wrong and lose everything, the money is ‘divided’ between them. Just like a divorce settlement though, it’s not divided equally. There can be over £100,000 split three ways, with the smallest amount being less than £10,000. Nobody wants to take the smallest sum, so they argue. The more they argue, the more the money goes down, until they all agree who gets what.

If they argue for too long, the money disappears and they all walk away with nothing. Just like a divorce settlement. You may not want your ex to have certain items, or a certain amount of money, but you should see the bigger picture. The longer you contest the settlement, the less you will have at the end of it.

How many people can honestly say that are friends with any of their ex girlfriends or boyfriends? It’s not very often that when a relationship breaks down that couples stay friends, and it’s even less often that when a marriage breaks down that the couple stay friends afterwards.

Usually there has been a very good reason for the divorce, and this means that the couple don’t get on. As such, staying in touch afterwards is unlikely, and in many cases unwise if tempers run high between them.

However, when there are children involved staying on good terms with your ex is essential, not for your sake, or theirs, but for the children. Children need both parents in their life in order to grow and mature properly. Denying a child one of their parents in unfair on the child and on the parent. For this reason you should stay in touch and be civil to each other, especially when the children are in earshot.

You might not necessarily be friends as such, but so long as you can hold a conversation without insulting each other or digging up the past you should be able to live with regular contact.

Celebrity couple Matt Lucas and Kevin McGee formally ended their 22 months of marriage last October. With the high rate of celebrity divorces in the news, this couple made the headlines as the first divorce case for celebrity gay couples.

Hiring topnotch divorce lawyers like MichonDe Raya, who handled high profile cases like the divorces of Princess Diana as well as Heather Mills, the divorce was granted within a 75 minute hearing from a High Court. Little Britain star Lucas filed for divorce after only 18 months of marriage from TV producer/writer Kevin McGee stressing McGee’s “unreasonable behaviour” and the star’s frantic schedule as reasons for the dissolution of their civil partnership. Divorce solicitors are trying to reach a financial agreement of how the couple’s assets can be shared.

With the fight for same-sex marriages across the US being won with the introduction of civil partnerships, the new question now is how can they file and end such unions, and is a divorce necessary?

The Lucas-McGee affair caused a stir for their divorce is a test on how same-sex partnerships are settled in a divorce. In the end, divorces for same-sex marriages are most likely the same as those of heterosexual marriages. And in the case of Lucas and McGee, final settlement is still on the way, and the divorce may cost the Little Britain star £5 million.

You can now get two thousand pounds from the Government if you scrap your old car and buy a new one. Wouldn’t it be great if you could do the same with your old marriage? Everyone a winner!

Let’s be clear, neither the Government, nor anyone else, is going to give you two thousand pounds to get divorced, but, with the help of a divorce lawyer or solicitor, you could give it to yourself, metaphorically speaking.

Your marriage has run its course and you need to move on, but there is a divorce to negotiate. Despite the heartache and the rights and wrongs for each party, it is best to try to keep it business-like and efficient so that you obtain your ‘two thousand pounds’ worth. Be realistic though, each of you cannot drive away in a brand new Ferrari, unless you had two to start with! Do you want to be more like Madonna & Guy than Paul & Heather?

You can, however, get a ‘brand new Ferrari’ if you develop a positive, professional approach to your divorce. Determine to free yourself from the bad old ways and habits. Be generous and fair, minimising the unhappiness to yourself and your family. You may be using a solicitor for the first time, and be unfamiliar with the process. If you look upon it as learning something new rather than a horrible experience, you will cope much better.

Leave the old car with all its old memories in the scrap-yard and drive away in a new frame of mind, determined to put your hard-earned ‘two thousand pounds’ to good use.

The most common given reason for divorce by the applicant against the respondent is that of ‘unreasonable behaviour’. Unreasonable behaviour covers anything that isn’t specifically detailed in the other main reasons for divorce, such as adultery, but what exactly constitutes ‘unreasonable’ in the unreasonable behaviour?

In truth any form of behaviour from your spouse that you dislike can be cited as unreasonable behaviour, whether it truly is unreasonable or not. For example, if your partner likes to go out drinking once a week, or if they watch too much TV, or if they never pick their clothes up from the floor; all of these can be given as acts of unreasonable behaviour.

Of course this only works if the respondent doesn’t contest the divorce, but most shouldn’t. After all, if they’ve been served with divorce papers clearly the marriage is coming to an end, so there’s little point in contesting the divorce at this stage. To contest the divorce will cost more and will mean a lengthy court battle with both sides having to pay for their divorce lawyers.

Unreasonable behaviour means you and your partner literally no longer get on with each other.

While marriage is all about sharing and spending time with the person you love, it’s also about allowing your partner to spend some time on their own with their friends. This is why it’s important for married couples to allow their respective better halves to go out without them while they stay home and mind the children.

In many marriages however this all too often one sided, with the wife staying home babysitting while the husband goes out for a drink or twenty with his friends. This selfish action on behalf of the husband can easily lead to resentment and subsequently divorce.

It’s important that both partners share the responsibility of staying in and looking after the children so they can both enjoy themselves. Perhaps a routine could be worked out where you decide in advance how many nights out you’re going to have without your other half each month? This will ensure that there’s no confusion as to who spends the most time with their friends, and who does the most babysitting.

Marriages that last are built on sharing and compromise, marriages that lead to divorce are all too often littered with selfish actions on behalf of one or both partners.

Former glamour model, Katie Price, has admitted she’s lost the battle to win back her husband Peter Andre and is allowing him to have a quickie divorce. Katie appeared at the Clothes Show this weekend, where she looked thinner than she’s ever looked, dressed in a bikini on stage and being surrounded by dancers.

Despite the outward smiles however Katie is reported to be very upset over the divorce. Insiders have said that she was very reluctant to grant Peter the quickie divorce he wanted, but has done so after finally coming to terms with the fact that her marriage is over.

Katie admitted her sadness when questioned at the Clothes Show:

I haven’t felt this low in ages.

According to a close friend of the couple:

It’s sad, but she’s given up the fight. She now accepts she’s never getting Peter back, and is ready to move on with her life.

The two could now be divorced within a month as both have been speaking with divorce lawyers since their split. Peter Andre will leave the marriage with what he brought to it as he signed a pre-nup in 2005 with his wife.

Insiders say that the only thing worrying Peter now is what level of access he will have to his children.

Some people are serial divorcers, such as Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Collins, Ross from Friends and Christie Brinkley. However, the former supermodel says that this divorce, from her fourth husband Peter Cook, will be her last.

Rather than saying she aims to find love and stick with a man, she’s stated that she’s had it with men and won’t get married again. Brinkley, whose former husbands include the rock star Billy Joel, stated:

I would never get married again. With what I know I don’t see why anyone would get married.

I totally believe in true love and I think couples should celebrate their love over and over again.

Brinkley was distressed by her most recent divorce after her husband cheated on her with a teenage girl who had been hired as an assistant. Brinkley says the publicity caused by the divorce, and the very public affair, has been very embarrassing for her.

I feel like I should apologise to everybody for them having to read all that tawdry stuff, and having it delivered to their kitchen tables when their kids are around.

Whether Brinkley will be able to stay away from men, away from marriage and out of the divorce courts for a fifth time is another matter.