Reportedly, A man in a Santa Claus outfit opened fire on a Christmas Eve gathering of his in-laws in this Los Angeles suburb and then methodically set their house ablaze, killing at least eight people and injuring several others. Shortly after the attack, the gunman, identified as Bruce Jeffrey Pardo, 45, killed himself with a single shot to the head at the home of his brother in the Sylmar section of Los Angeles, the police said.

The frenzied shooting occurred just before midnight Wednesday at the two-story house, set on a cul-de-sac in this middle-class town about 22 miles east of Los Angeles. Lt. Pat Buchanan of the Covina Police Department said Mr. Pardo, armed with one or two handguns and fire accelerant, had gone to the house looking for his former wife, Sylvia, with whom he was finalizing a contentious divorce after only a year of marriage.

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Not Your Dad’s Divorce provides a story that illustrates the emotional impact of divorce on children and the benefit of a shared parenting arrangement (joint physical custody) versus the standard “every other weekend” visitation arrangement from a child’s perspective. The following is a paragraph taken from the article:

In the morning, we sat the girls on the sofa and told them. They cried, and were confused, but they didn’t ask the big questions we thought they would. They wanted to know where they’d live, and whether they would still have the same last name. When we showed them the calendar, our older girl turned it a few pages ahead to her birthday month, which we hadn’t colored in yet. She panicked. “But Mom, is my birthday red or purple?” Her dad and I looked at each other and said, “Both. We’ll both be there.” She would not rest until we filled the day in with red and purple. And with that, our new family life was born.

No child custody schedule is. It can involve long commutes and budgets strained by the costs of maintaining two households. The traditional dad-gets-every-other-weekend formula is logistically easier than what Jorgen and I planned. But ours is an increasingly common arrangement.

As pointed out in the story, while it may be “easier” and cheaper to adopt the standard “every other weekend” visitation schedule for the noncustodial parent (usually the father) it often falls short of serving the children’s needs and best interest — the need to spend significant time living and bonding with both parents.

For the full story click here.

Reportedly, the former teacher whose teenage lover was fatally shot by her ex-husband has been jailed for contempt of court in her continuing legal battle for custody of the couple’s two sons. Court officials say Knox County Circuit Court Judge Bill Swann on Monday sentenced Erin McLean to 75 days in jail to begin immediately. She was cited for keeping her sons away from their father, Eric McLean, for months.

Reportedly, an Australian couple was served with legal papers via Facebook, with lawyer Mark McCormack using the social network Facebook to track down the couple. The couple was accused of defaulting on a large loan. McCormack may be the first lawyer globally to actually contact the pair after being given permission by the Australian court to use Facebook to file legal papers against them.

Reportedly, “The Facebook profiles showed the defendants’ dates of birth, email addresses and friend lists - and the co-defendants were friends with one another. “This information was enough to satisfy the court that Facebook was a sufficient method of communicating with the defendants.”

Reportedly, the Madonna divorce settlement to Guy Ritchie cost her 76 million or 50 million pounds.

Reportedly, the Madonna divorce settlement was in the range of 50 million to 60 million pounds ($76 million to $92 million) as part of their divorce agreement, a figure she said included the value of the couple’s country home, Ashcombe House in western England, which Ritchie will keep. The Madonna divorce multimillion settlement is about twice the size paid out in Britain’s latest high-profile celebrity divorce — the former Beatle Paul McCartney divorce from model Heather Mills.

Reportedly, Madonna and Guy Ritchie were worth some $525 million — the vast majority of which belonged to Madonna. Ritchie had an estimated $35 million fortune.

In Stephen R. Covey’s book The 8th Habit Covey describes an effective listening and communication concept he calls the “Indian Talking Stick Communication Concept.” In describing this concept he uses a humorous farmer wants divorce story. Effective listening and listening empathetically are illustrated in the farmer wants divorce story and other points such as not speaking until the person talking asks if you understand their point and focus on understanding (not agreeing) are also illustrated in this story. According to Covey, silence is important part of the Indian Talking Stick communication and he uses the humorous farmer wants divorce story to demonstrate communication that is opposite of that of Indian Talking Stick communication:

Farmer Wants Divorce

A farmer walked into an attorney’s office wanting to file for a divorce. The attorney asked, “May I help you?”

The farmer said, “Yea, I want to get one of those dayvorces.”

The attorney said, “Well do you have any grounds?”

The farmer said, “Yea, I got about 140 acres.” The attorney said, “No, you don’t understand, do you have a case?”

The farmer said, “No, I don’t have a Case, but I have a John Deere.”

The attorney said, “No you don’t understand, I mean do you have a grudge?”

The farmer said, “Yea I got a grudge, that’s where I park my John Deere.”

The attorney said, “No sir, I mean do you have a suit?”

The farmer said, “Yes sir, I got a suit. I wear it to church on Sundays.”

The exasperated attorney said, “Well sir, does your wife beat you up or anything?”

The farmer said, “No sir, we both get up about 4:30.”

Finally, the attorney says, “Okay, let me put it this way. WHY DO YOU WANT A DIVORCE?”

And the farmer says, “Well, I can never have a meaningful conversation with her.”

(Quoted from The 8th Habit by Stephen R. Covey pg. 201-200).

The farmer wants divorce story illustrates Covey’s point that semantic and perception ideas dissolve when listening with true empathy to another person.

Reportedly, the divorce of Leland and Maui Chapman was finalized in April 2005. But why did Leland Chapman get Divorced? Apparently the grounds cited for the Leland Chapman divorce was irreconcilable differences. The above mentioned source claims Maui had begun to file for divorce from Leland Chapman after the 2003 Andrew Luster charges against Leland. Using ‘confinment in prison’ as her legal basis, while Leland Chapman was told to counter act with ‘abandonment’ .

Leland Chapman was born December 14, 1976 in Groom, Texas. He appears often in his father’s (Duane “Dog” Chapman) reality show “Dog the Bounty Hunter” along with “Dog” and the other members of his crew. He reportedly divides his time between his bail bonds business and mixed martial arts. He has two sons: Dakota, born March 24, 1995, and Cobie, born December 7, 2000. Leland Chapman divorced from their mother Maui in 2005.

Dr Phil and his divorce rumors are spreading fast and furious on the web. Dr. Phil has a TV show where he makes a living giving advice to others - but does Dr Phil McGraw now need some divorce advice himself to save his own marriage? Is Dr Phil getting divorce or is the Dr Phil and Robin divorce rumors simply gossip? Reportedly, the report that Robin McGraw and Dr. Phil McGraw were divorcing first surfaced from the Globe’s Website, with the headline reading Dr. Phil Divorce Blow-up!

Reportedly, rumors suggesting that Robin and Dr Phil are getting a divorce have been dismissed by friends who are close to the couple. The Ladies Home Journal story that broke would also question the Dr Phil McGraw divorce rumors where the couple claimed “Divorce is not an option.”

Reportedly, Dr Phil McGraw’s first marriage and subsequent divorce was not publicized until a 2002 Newsweek cover story. The “secret first wife of Dr. Phil” was ex-cheerleader and homecoming queen Debbie Higgins McCall, who married McGraw in 1970. According to her, Phil was domineering and would not allow her to participate in the family business, a health spa. Instead, she was confined to domestic duties, which included lifting weights to improve her bustline.

Reportedly, Dr. Phil and Robin McGraw have been married for over 31 years. The couple has two sons Jay (born in 1979) and Jordan (born in 1986).

Sadly, after several years of separation Charles Stanley’s 44 year marriage to his wife Ann Stanley ended in divorce in May 2000. For many, the grounds for Charles Stanley’s divorce still remains unclear leaving many wondering what were the grounds for Charles Stanley’s divorce.

Reportedly, Charles Stanley’s wife, Anna Stanley, originally filed for divorce on 6/22/93 following their separation in the spring of 1992, but the two agreed Anna would amend the lawsuit to seek a legal separation instead (”separate maintenance”) while seeking reconciliation. Ann Stanley again filed for divorce on 3/20/95. Charles Stanley told the congregation in 1995, “If my wife divorces me, I would resign immediately.” Reportedly, Ann Stanley agreed to withdraw the divorce suit and work towards reconciliation. Things reportedly seemed hopeful by 1998, then fell apart again. In February 2000, she again filed for divorce, and a judge issued a final decree May 11, 2000 ending the 44-year marriage. Charles Stanley partly blamed “childhood difficulties.” But the grounds for Charles Stanely’s divorce was reported to be the marriage was “irretrievably broken.” Reportedly, Charles Stanley remained eligible to be pastor of First Baptist Church as long as he did not remarry.

Charles Stanley is a prominent Christian minister, TV and radio Bible teacher, author of numerou inspirational books, and former president of the Southern Baptist Conference.

There have been many rumors floating around on the Internet suggesting that Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning has divorced his wife Ashley Manning. These divorce rumors have been around almost since they married in 2001. But is Peyton Manning divorced?

On November 26, 2008 it was reported on the MSNBC website, that Peyton Manning, along with his wife Ashley Manning, handed out several meals to needy families on Tuesday November 25 2008 in Indianapolis’ Riverside Park. Reportedly Peyton Manning and his wife Ashely Manning passed out the largest distribution of food for families through the Peyback Foundation with over 800 families receiving groceries for their Thanksgiving meals.

So is Peyton Manning Divorced? There appears to be no evidence that Peyton Manning is divorced from wife Ashely Manning as of November 26, 2008.

Reportedly, Madonna and Guy Ritchie were granted a preliminary decree of divorce. Madonna divorce papers released by the court stated Madonna petitioned for divorce on the basis of Guy Ritchie’s “unreasonable behavior,” but did not elaborate.

Reportedly, Judge Phillip Waller ruled that he did not need to apply family law in the case — meaning that he accepted the Guy Ritchie and Madonna divorce agreement on their assets and children.

Neither appeared at the brief court session, in which “Ciccone M L v Ritchie G S” was one of 17 cases given a preliminary decree. The famed Guy Ritchie and Madonna divorce can reportedly become final after six weeks and a day.

Reportedly, the Greg Norman Divorce settlement ended after a two-year divorce battle between one of Jupiter Island’s most famous former couples - golf great Greg Norman and his ex-wife Laura Andrassy.

Greg Norman’s divorce battle at one point included a shouting match at the couple’s mansion but in the end brought Greg Norman’s ex-wife, Laura Andrassy, a $103 million divorce settlement — which became public in July shortly after Greg Norman married tennis star Chris Evert.