Tim and Amy Duncan celebrate following the 2005 NBA Finals (Getty Images)

There is never a good time for a relationship to end or divorce proceedings to be put into place, even if the move is necessary and agreed upon by both sides. Working through a divorce trial while working as an All-NBA member of a team two wins away from the NBA Finals, though, would be quite the mental task. It has not been completely confirmed by the player, team, or representatives, but the San Antonio-Express News is reporting that it’s more than likely that Tim Duncan and his wife have engaged in divorce proceedings, and that the San Antonio Spurs big man is attempting to delay the trial because of his postseason commitments with the team.

The Express-News’ Patrick Danner discovered the case’s paperwork this week, and deduced that the initials utilized in the paperwork (the case is listed as “A.S.D. vs. T.T.D,” Tim’s wife’s name is Amy and Duncan’s middle name is Theodore), some of the language regarding the timeliness, and (sadly), the ages of the couple’s two children to deduce that the Spurs legend is trying to put off the divorce proceedings in order to concentrate fully on the playoff run.

From the Express-News:

The case is playing out in Bexar County District Court. Court papers filed last week include a request that legal discovery in the case be postponed until after the Spurs’ last playoff game.

[…]

[Duncan’s possible lawyer Sue M. Hally] filed a motion last week asking that the parties not to have to turn over documents and other information pertinent to the case until a future court date.

In the alternative, she asked the court to “give T.T.D. 30 days following the first work day following the San Antonio Spurs’ last playoff game (whenever that might be) to respond to the outstanding discovery requests.”

A hearing on the request was scheduled for Thursday, according to the court docket. The outcome wasn’t immediately known.

TMZ, as it usually does, went on from there:

TMZ has obtained legal docs filed in Bexar County, Texas, in which Duncan makes the case that his employment “is currently making extraordinary demands on him and hopefully will continue to make those demands for the next 30 or so days.” Translation — he’s banking on a ring.

Duncan’s wife, Amy, filed for divorce in March, saying she wanted to end their 12-year marriage which she says has become “insupportable because of discord and conflict.”

Like her husband, Amy Duncan has more or less stayed out of the public eye while away from the ATT Center. She was with Duncan when he toured the Orlando Magic facilities in 2000 when Duncan was a free agent, but things have remained quiet on the home front for the couple – which, as the Express-News reminded, married in 2001. Amy Duncan was a cheerleader at Wake Forest, where Duncan graduated from in 1997.

San Antonio is currently up 2-0 on the Memphis Grizzlies in the Western Conference finals, with designs on making their first Finals appearance since 2007. Whatever the pairing, the Finals won’t tip off until June 6, potentially taking until a full two weeks following that starting date to finish if the series goes seven games.

The Spurs are good enough, and the competition will be fierce enough, to drag the season out that long. And though private jets and the work of a high-powered legal staff can help expedite the process (and a prenuptial agreement, if it is officially in place, can answer a lot of questions before the lawyers get down to business), this can still be a life-altering back and forth that one probably doesn’t want to endure while thinking about guarding Zach Randolph, while potentially on and off the road for another three and a half weeks.

Reportedly. We don’t know for sure. If “T.T.D.” is Tim Duncan, though, then this is a sad time to try to muddle through. And we can understand why he’d like to put it off for a while.

Article source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/tim-duncan-reportedly-delaying-divorce-proceedings-until-end-204537661.html

Her mother and father having essentially abdicated their parental roles, 6-year-old Maisie does her best to cope.

Six-year-old Maisie has parents too busy viciously fighting with each other to realize what an amazing little girl they have.

And she’s too quietly watchful to seem bereft.

But we feel her aching sadness.

Young Onata Aprile gives a startlingly natural, understated and poignant performance as sweet-natured Maisie in the wonderfully captivating, splendidly acted What Maisie Knew (* * * * out of four; rated R; expanding Friday nationwide).

Maisie’s the casualty in her narcissistic parents’ lethal emotional warfare. Their fighting leads to divorce and a nasty custody battle. Too self-absorbed to handle the care of little Maisie, they mostly just want to inflict pain on each other.

In the midst of her life’s turmoil, Maisie clings to any kindness shown her by caring adults. She somehow manages to navigate through force of will, innate intelligence and childlike innocence.

The beautifully rendered film is told from Maisie’s point of view, a wise decision by deft directors Scott McGehee and David Siegel (who made 2001′s brilliant film noir The Deep End) Screenwriters Carroll Cartwright and Nancy Doyne have superbly adapted Henry James’ 1897 novel, moving the location from Victorian England to contemporary New York.

The camera is often at Maisie’s eye level, emphasizing how adults are seen by the perceptive Maisie. The sad-eyed Aprile’s honest portrayal is heart-wrenching.

When the movie opens we hear the sounds of Maisie’s mom Susanna (Julianne Moore) , an aging rocker, and her businessman husband Beale (Steve Coogan) brutally ripping into each other, as Maisie hears it from her bedroom. So, it’s no surprise when they split up.

Frequently left to her own devices, Maisie relies all the more on her kind nanny (Joanna Vanderham), whom her father decides impulsively to marry.

In retaliation, Susanna marries Lincoln (Alexander Skarsgard), a charming bartender.

Maisie’s tale is brilliantly nuanced. It’s not always comfortable to sit through the tidal waves of family misery and witness a little girl’s quiet pain, but here, the experience is profoundly moving.

Both Susanna and Beale make halfhearted stabs to connect with their daughter, but their erratic and manipulative behavior is off-putting to their honest little girl.

Susanna is almost monstrous in her irresponsibility. But, as played by the always-terrific Moore, she has a moment of self-awareness that, while it doesn’t redeem her, at least gives her a jot of humanity.

The viewer constantly fears for Maisie’s safety. Susanna leaves her at an upscale Manhattan bar with Lincoln, who initially seems too immature to be a caretaker. Still, in his sweet naivete he connects with his wide-eyed step-child in some of the film’s best scenes.

We watch him step up to the plate, as he realizes how precious Maisie’s fragile trust is. When Susana breaks up with him, he seems indifferent to the loss of her intermittent affection.

Yet he does care about what will become of Maisie. “You don’t deserve her,” he lashes out, articulating exactly what the viewer has been thinking.

Skarsgard gives a finely tuned and tender performance, and Vanderham is also terrific as the two adults who try to keep Maisie’s world from crumbling around her.

Who would have thought that one of the most provocative and affecting films made about the fallout from 21st century divorce would have emanated from a 19^th century novel?

Article source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/2013/05/23/what-maisie-knew-review/2121875/

The transfer game reached absurd levels of curiosity when Mike Gundy restricted quarterback Wes Lunt from 37 schools and three whole conferences.

Gundy is going for the estate, the 50-percent revenue split and the dogs in this divorce.

Mediation is necessary. After all, there were high hopes for this union when that National Letter of Intent came through the Oklahoma State football fax machine in February 2012. But the quarterback wants to play, and the coach doesn’t want to lose an edge. That’s why we’ve called “1-800-No-Fault-Transfer” to help provide some clarity — and a few guidelines — to this split. Future transfers, please call. No-Fault-Transfer has sought divorce mediation (or just some general thoughts about transfers) from North Texas’ Dan McCarney, Fresno State’s Tim DeRuyter and friend of the SEC Houston Nutt.

Time to hash this out in a stale conference room over bad coffee.

Gundy can have the Big 12/Southern Miss restrictions: All three coaches from the mediation counsel say preventing players from signing with a team on your future schedule is widely accepted by coaches and often the players leaving. “Players know your program inside and out,” McCarney said.

That’s why No-Fault-Transfer will allow the restrictions on the Big 12, and also Southern Miss, because of the precedent it sets.

It’s not that a player shouldn’t be allowed to transfer to a school where he has a relationship with the coach — which Lunt would have at Southern Miss under former Cowboys offensive coordinator Todd Monken.

But Gundy has ushered three offensive coordinators into head coaching jobs, and he probably doesn’t want them providing a safe landing strip for departing players. For settlement purposes, these restrictions keep Gundy happy.

Lunt gets the other 27 schools: The only SEC school on Oklahoma State’s immediate schedule is Mississippi State in 2013. No tangible reason to keep him from the SEC.

Perhaps the Cowboys will meet a Pac-12 school in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl one day and Lunt will lead his school to a come-from-behind win because he knew all the Cowboys’ secrets. But that’s doubtful. He can go to the Pac-12.

And the Eastern Michigan ban — well, it’s Eastern Michigan. Let the man Swoop if that’s what he wants!

Lunt should have reasonable flexibility. And Gundy had his eyes on another quarterback, which always plays in the quarterback’s favor in transfer mediation.

“As a coach, you’ve invested so much time in a player that you don’t want to see them leave,” Nutt said. “But if they aren’t the right fit or aren’t going to get the opportunity, you still want to see them do well.”

By placing nearly 40 restrictions on Lunt, Gundy probably doesn’t want him to leave: No-Fault-Transfer can’t speak for Gundy, who was unavailable for comment, but maybe the man remembers he had something special in Lunt, who has three years of eligibility left (one more than probable starter Clint Chelf). He has a thing for quick releases, if only on the field.

Does Gundy want to stay with Lunt?

“Maybe [a heavy restriction plan] is a way to try to discourage transfers from leaving,” McCarney said.

Added Nutt: “That’s like saying, ‘You’re going to be here, buddy.’ ”

Harsh restrictions could actually give a player more incentive to leave, almost out of spite, but if Lunt doesn’t like his visits to Illinois and Louisville, then maybe the two can reunite ambicably.

Probably not.

In splitting of assets, the coach always wins: Gundy can keep his $3 million-plus salary, his one Big 12 title and his 67 wins.

Lunt can keep the Cowboys shirt and cleats he got as a freshman, along with the handshakes on his way out.

Clearly Gundy gets the better deal. You didn’t think players would actually get a financial cut, did you? At least Lunt keeps future professional earnings.

Transferring can be tough, yet Nutt sees the list of transfers grow every offseason. He knows exactly why.

“As soon as the playing time doesn’t happen, especially if it’s a highly recruited player, there’s pressure from back home. ‘Those coaches are messing your son up, you better get out of there.’ ”

The empathy phase: In one season, Gundy and Lunt shared eight wins and 1,108 yards.

They can do more without each other.

Gundy can’t lift the NCAA rule that forces Lunt and other transfers wanting more playing time to sit out a year. The rule often handcuffs players, but as DeRuyter points out, the alternative would handcuff schools because programs would get poached all day. Even in the messiest transfer divorces, both sides still can win.

“You just have to be clear about your intentions on both sides and, if someone is better off elsewhere, hope for the best,” DeRuyter said.

Article source: http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/story/22285170/okla-states-gundy-wins-in-messy-transfer-divorce-because-he-can

A lesbian couple in Allen say they are targets of discrimination after a Collin County judge ruled they could no longer live together because of a morality clause in the 2011 divorce papers one of the women signed.

The clause, common in divorce cases in Texas and other states, prevents

Article source: http://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-news/allen/headlines/20130520-lesbian-couple-in-allen-says-morality-clause-in-divorce-equals-discrimination.ece

Article source: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/entertainment/2013/05/20/chad-johnson-arrested-for-violating-parole-in-connection-to-divorce-case/

The man was found in Lyon’s eighth arrondissement at around 8pm on the same
day. A Lyon prosecuting source said that the man had “admitted being
the murderer” but had not given many more details.

The wife was finally heard by prosecutors on Sunday, providing them with their
details of her troubled relationship with her ex-husband.

In 2010, the father had attacked his then wife, leading to his rights of
access being withdrawn.

This was the first weekend since then that the man had been allowed to have
the boy and girl with him without a third party. The father has been living
in France for 10 years and married his French wife in 2005.

The couple had been involved in a further legal dispute over the flat, which
is worth around £100,000. “There was a lot of friction because the
wife wanted the flat so that the money could be divided up, while he wanted
to keep the house,” said another investigating source.

Ahmed Benguedda, a former neighbour of the couple, told the news agency that
the couple had divorced “two or three years ago”. The father, who
was unemployed, had drinking problems and was violent towards his wife, Mr
Benguedda, who still lives locally, claimed. He added that the children were “well-balanced”
and often played with his seven-year-old daughter.

The wife won custody of the children following the divorce and went to live in
the Isère region of France, to the south-east of Lyon.

The man will be brought before Lyon prosecutors, when he is expected to be
formally charged with the murders.

A Foreign Office spokesman said the matter was being investigated. “We
are aware of the reports and we are urgently looking into them,” said a
spokesman.

Article source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/10067536/France-killing-divorce-battle-father-confesses-to-slitting-childrens-throats.html

By Jeff Landers for GalTime.com

As a divorcing woman, you are no doubt looking forward to having the whole divorce process over with, so you can move ahead to your new life. If you’re like most women, you probably think the past few months (or years!) have been filled with enough emotional upheaval, not to mention legal and financial hassle, for a lifetime, and you’ll be very glad to have it all behind you… at last.

Of course, life as a single woman will bring new responsibilities, including all the issues surrounding your personal finances. Even today, it is surprisingly common for wives to remain uninvolved in family finances. If that was the dynamic in your marriage, then it may now seem quite intimidating to face all the budgeting and bill paying, in addition to managing investments and debt, and saving for education, retirement and other long-term goals.

However, there is a bright side.

Throughout the divorce process, it’s likely you’ve become intimately familiar with your marital financial situation. Now, as your divorce settlement agreement is finalized, you can take that know-how forward as you plan for a secure financial future.

Here are a few important practical steps to help you get on the road to financial stability after your divorce:

Do the financial housekeeping.
If you changed your name after the divorce, you’ll need a new Social Security Card, driver’s license, passport and credit cards. You’ll also need to notify your bank, utilities, insurance companies, credit card companies, the motor vehicle department, your children’s school(s), etc., about any name or address changes. Titles on all houses and vehicles will have to be modified and recorded with lending institutions, and you will also need to update beneficiaries on your life insurance, 401k, pensions and IRA accounts.

To keep all these details straight, follow this checklist of financial tasks that need prompt attention post-divorce:

1. Obtain a copy of your certified divorce decree, and make extra copies so that you’re able to provide them promptly when needed.

2. Close joint credit accounts.

3. Remove your husband’s name, and/or change your name/address, on all remaining accounts, including:
· Bank, brokerage and investment accounts
· Credit cards
· Driver’s license, automobile title, registration and insurance policies
· Employer’s records
· IRS records
· Life, health, homeowner’s and disability insurance policies
· Post office (Remember to have your mail forwarded, too.)
· Professional licenses
· Social security card
· Title to real property
· Utility bills

4. Research your health insurance options and apply for COBRA, if necessary.

5. If your divorce decree requires a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO):
Provide the QDRO to appropriate banks, brokerages, pension plan advisor, 401k administrators, etc. (Even better, have this step completed before your divorce is finalized!), a quitclaim or warranty deed: Make certain the appropriate documents are executed and recorded. Also, the transfer of title to property (automobiles, boats, etc.): Sign and deliver the necessary documents to complete the transfer.

6. Open a new bank account. Consider establishing direct deposit or income withholding for child support, spousal support and/or alimony payments.

7. Open a new credit card account and request a copy of your credit report.

8. Disinherit your husband. Write and execute a new will, trusts, medical directives and/or living wills and powers of attorney. Don’t forget to change the beneficiaries on your life insurance, 401k, pension and IRA accounts.

9. Establish a system to keep track of all child support made/received, alimony payments made/received, medical expenses, etc.

Establish good credit in your own name.
Good credit is the foundation of your financial future. Without it, it can be very difficult to get a bank loan, and even hard to manage regular household expenses. Get a copy of your credit report (AnnualCreditReport.com offers them free of charge), and address any inaccuracies it contains. Then, if you are employed and/or already have credit cards in your name, building your credit is relatively straightforward: use your cards regularly, pay off the balance in full and on time each month, and watch your score rise!

However, if you’re not employed and don’t already have a credit history, the process may not be as simple. A few years ago, new federal regulations made it difficult for women with little or no income to establish credit on their own. The Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act of 2009 was designed to protect consumers from getting into financial trouble by running up credit card debt they can’t afford to pay, but unfortunately, this legislation also makes it difficult for “at-home” spouses without paid work to obtain credit on their own.

After a public outcry, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently proposed changes to rectify these unintended consequences. When enacted, the modifications will allow non-working spouses to apply for credit in their own name based upon shared household income.

So, be prepared. Securing credit may require more than simply filling out an application or making a single phone call.

Develop a comprehensive financial plan for the future.
If you had a Lifestyle Analysis prepared during your divorce, you should now have a very clear understanding of what funds came into the marriage (income) and what funds went out (expenses). Use this as a basis for developing a budget going forward. You’ll need to address both short-term (day-to-day expenses, monthly utilities, mortgage, car payments, etc.) and long-term (college tuition, retirement, travel) financial needs.

If your divorce settlement includes any lump sum payments (i.e., for alimony, pension rollovers, sale of a vacation home), you’ll also need to develop a sound strategy for managing those assets. Establishing –and then sticking to – a financial plan is essential, both for financial stability and peace of mind.

Seek help from an experienced financial advisor.
All the fundamental components of a sound financial plan – creating a budget, investing, retirement planning, outlining your goals and aspirations, saving for college, choosing life insurance, etc. – should be completed under the guidance of a financial advisor.

Be sure to find a financial professional with expertise and experience helping divorced women, specifically. The financial needs of divorced women are very different from those of a married couple, and you should have an advisor who completely understands those differences and knows how to properly manage their money and invest on their behalf.

In addition to an experienced financial planner, I believe most post-divorce women can benefit from the assistance of:

· An estate-planning attorney to work with your financial advisor to help with your estate planning needs and the legal issues concerning your will, medical directives, trusts, charitable giving, etc.
· A therapist or counselor to help you cope with the emotional challenges of starting your life as a single woman.
· A vocational counselor to help you re-enter the job market, or even start your own business.

Enjoy your new life!
With your divorce in the rear-view mirror, and these important steps completed, you’ll be well-positioned for a secure financial future. It’s likely you will find, as most women do, that it’s empowering to make financial decisions on your own, and to be the one who’s in control of your financial portfolio. Rest assured: The road ahead belongs to you!

More from GalTime.com:
· 3 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Dating Again
· Do You Have to Give Back the Ring? Legally?
· Should You Get an Online Divorce?
· Best ( Worst) Post-Breakup Movies

Connect with GalTime on Facebook!

Jeff Landers is the President and Founder of Bedrock Divorce Advisors, a divorce financial strategy firm which exclusively advises affluent women throughout the United States before, during and after divorce. Jeff is the author of the new book, Divorce: Think Financially, Not Emotionally – What Women Need To Know About Securing Their Financial Future Before, During, And After Divorce, which provides women going through the crisis of divorce with the tools they need to secure their financial future. He is donating 50% of all book profits to Bedrock Divorce Fund for Abused Women, Inc. For your free article on Understanding How Assets Get Divided in A Divorce click here.

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Article source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/18/divorce-finance-how-to-ge_0_n_3282918.html

When Ahmad (Ali Mosaffa) clears customs at de Gaulle Airport, his estranged wife Marie (Bèrénice Bejo) speaks to him urgently on the other side of a glass partition. They communicate with sign language and words the audience can’t hear.

If The Past (Le Passé) continued in that fashion for the next two hours, it might be an elaborate tribute to Bejo’s performance in The Artist, the virtually silent comedy that swept the Oscars in 2012. But this is the new drama from Ashgar Farhadi, the Iranian writer-director of A Separation, winner of last year’s other big Academy Award: Best Foreign-Language Feature. It’s very much a reprise of that film’s themes: grownups who tear their marriages apart, and the children who suffer in their wake.

(READ: Corliss’s review of A Separation)

After A Separation comes the divorce. Amad has returned to Paris, after four years back in Iran, to finalize the dissolution of his marriage to Marie, a pharmacist, so she can wed her current beau Samir (Tahar Rahim), a dry cleaner. However acerbic the Ahmad-Marie relationship must have been — at the crest of one argument, he asks, “Miss our fights, dear?” — the family tensions on display in Marie’s sprawling suburban house seem ready to ignite into a Syria-level civil war. Teenage Lucie (Pauline Burlet), Marie’s elder child by her first, Belgian husband, comes home only to stomp up to her room. Her opposition to Marie’s impending marriage are mirrored by Samir’s young son Fouad (Elyes Aguis), who wears his resentment like a conscientious objector’s badge of honor. Only Léa (Jeanne Jestin), Marie’s younger daughter by the Belgian, doesn’t lash out at her keepers. She quietly observes the combat from a neutral corner.

The Pearl Harbor equivalent for all these hostilities is Samir’s wife Cécile, in a coma after swallowing detergent in a suicide attempt in his store. She was a chronic depressive, Samir insists — but what drove her to try killing herself? Had she learned of her husband’s affair with Marie? And if so, how? Did someone tip her off, through a phone call or an email? A Separation was a kind of courtroom drama played out in middle-class homes, and so The Past. It even summons an expert witness, one of Samir’s employees (Sabrina Ouazani), to testify to Cécile’s instability. The machinations fester and ravel in a plot-driven film that, for all its references to detergents, never lapses into soap opera.

(SEE: Why Ashgar Farhadi was named one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People)

Toward the beginning of The Past, the title appears on a car windshield, the wipers slowly erasing the words. But Farhadi needs to italicize his message that the past is never past — that memories and old alliances, whether pleasant or painful, haunt us like the relentless spirits of the dead or the not-quite-dead. Lucie threatens to move in with her absent father (as did Isabelle, the main character in François Ozon’s Cannes entry Young Beautiful). Fouad hates living chez Marie, but not as much as he dreads returning home, where his mother’s evanescent presence would be even more palpable. Ahmad wants to leave but, as the one disinterested party in the dispute, stays on as mediator and sleuth. Only at the end do we discover who really loves whom.

(READ: Mary Corliss’s Cannes review of Young Beautiful)

In discovering world-class filmmakers, Cannes is often late to the party. Its selectors must think of the other Festivals (Berlin, Venice, Toronto), which often present budding auteurs years earlier, as the minor leagues. After a few promising films, directors get promoted to the majors on the Côte d’Azur. As a consequence, important filmmakers often make their splash elsewhere. A Separation won Berlin’s Golden Bear in early 2011, before its Oscar acclaim and box-ofice popularity ($7 million in North America, a phenomenal sum for an Iranian picture, and $20 million worldwide). Now comes The Past: the Thing after the Big Thing. It has many of A Separation’s strengths — the acute observation of complex characters in a story that keeps unpacking surprises — but they have become familiar. They lack the revelatory wallop of the first film.

By any other measure, The Past meets high standards. The cast is uniformly superb. Mosaffa, who learned French to play Ahmad, sensitively portrays the outsider drafted into a peacemaker’s role. Bejo, know to American audiences only as The Artist’s perky Peppy Miller, is graver, more volcanic, more beautiful here — a prime dramatic actress. There’s stark smoldering as well from Burlet (who looks so much like a younger Marion Cotillard that she played the young Edith Piaf in La vie en rose, which won Cotillard her Best Actress Oscar); then she lets her character’s defiance crumble into little-girl dependence. And Aguis, a gorgeous child with permanent fret lines and outbursts of elfin rage, helps persuade viewers that this is a story as much about the kids as the adults.

(FIND: A Separation on the updated all-TIME 100 Movies list)

Who knows how the grownups’ ties to the past will shape or taint the children’s future? That may be a worthwhile subject for another fine Farhadi film.

Article source: http://entertainment.time.com/2013/05/17/the-past-after-the-oscar-winning-a-separation-comes-the-divorce/

Article source: http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2013/05/16/how-to-make-your-divorce-cheaper/

MIAMI (CBSMiami) — For many divorcing couples the day the final papers arrive in the mail brings mixed emotions. But some are finding comfort in an unexpected place — parties.

“We had cocktails and cake and hors d’oeuvres,” said Sumara Dunn who recently celebrated her divorce.

Sarah Milatello celebrated the end of her marriage by trading up her wedding ring for a brand new rock, which she called her divorce ring.

“This symbolized you know me being born into a whole different era of greatness for myself,” she explained.

Anthony Bazzell teamed up with a party planner to arrange a bash that would commemorate the end of his long and painful divorce. “I was told by a number of my close friends, ‘you know. I can’t wait until this is over, you should have a party’.”

The post divorce party trend is growing.

Andrea Corielia is part of the growing industry that’s catering to people who no longer grieve the ending. They want to rejoice in starting over and do so with a bang.

“It used to be that people would just associate divorce with the doom and gloom. Now it’s a time to celebrate. It’s a rebirth,” said Corielia.

Couple’s counselor Donna Martini said when divorce is inevitable; embracing the future is a positive first step.

“You’re allowed to be who you are and allowed to pursue your happiness so this is a way to mark that, to say okay the hardship, the really tough part is over now,” explained Martini.

Nearly half of all marriages end in divorce, it’s a staggering statistic. Some say that celebrating what most consider a failure sends the wrong message.

“To celebrate something that did not result in a good union, that goes against the vows that somebody took,” said psychiatrist Harris Straightner.

Straightner said these parties could also backfire if there are children involved. “So you brought me into this world now you’re celebrating that you’re splitting up.”

Despite the critics, there is a growing industry springing up around this trend which include not only the parties but also presents and outrageous cake designs

Elizabeth Petrakus did it with a new designer handbag but it would still take years of a wrenching legal drama for her to finally win a landmark decision that would overturn her prenup.

“I’m looking forward to celebrating a new life, a new beginning, a new chapter in my life,” said Petrakus.

In addition, some divorcing couples are actually throwing their divorce parties together to celebrate their amicable splits.

Article source: http://miami.cbslocal.com/2013/05/14/splitting-couples-say-i-do-to-divorce-parties/