Ashley Cole may be a fine footballer, but he wouldn’t win any medals for his ability to concoct plausible explanations for his licentious behaviour. When it was revealed a model had been sent naked photographs of the Chelsea and England player from his mobile phone, Cole said he had given the phone to a friend, who had passed it on to someone else. In other words, “It wasn’t me, Guv”!   more »

One of the things I encounter fairly regularly in my job is one half of a couple – usually the woman – contemplating a new career in counselling. This is particularly common among wives who have devoted much of their adult lives to bringing up a family and, once the family has flown the nest, need something “meaningful” to fill the emotional void.   more »

When a marriage falls apart, it is a depressing time. Many of the people who walk into our offices are feeling at their lowest ebb. They are frightened, anxious, lonely and emotionally battered.   more »

The recession has played havoc with people’s lives, not least those whose relationships have broken down. Countless couples who would otherwise have gone their separate ways have stayed together because they felt they couldn’t afford to divorce. Some couples have parted emotionally, but have continued to live under the same roof for because they’ve been unable to sell the marital home.   more »

I am friends with a couple who have been married for 40 years. Some time ago I asked them: “What’s your secret?” The husband’s prompt response was: “Inertia!”   more »

At Christmas, did you feel you had to go through the “isn’t it fantastic?” routine for the sake of the children, even if what you actually felt like doing was hiding under the duvet for a couple of weeks?   more »

When clients who are going through a divorce voice their fears about how they will cope with “singledom”, I am able to give some reassurance. For I am single and I lead a very active and fulfilling social life.   more »

I feel terribly happy most of the time: I love life. But my contentment has been hard-won. My marriage to a Spanish footballer broke down following the death of our young daughter.   more »

This morning I received a letter from someone I’d recently advised, thanking me for my help and saying she was now talking to husband about how they rebuild their relationship.   more »

When I went through a divorce, nearly 20 years ago, I was pretty blasé about it. Give me three months, I remember saying to my brother, and I’ll be fine. I’ve never forgotten his response: “Yes, it will be three,” he said, “but years, not months.”   more »

Our firm, Benussi & Co, was founded 16 years ago – yet we can call upon 150 years of experience. Between us – that’s 25 partners and staff – we have been guiding people through the divorce process for a century and a half!   more »

The secret of a happy marriage, according to scientists, is for a wife to be smarter and at least five years younger than her husband.   more »

The “seven-year itch”, made famous by the 1955 film of the same name, is a phenomenon based on the assumption that marital dissatisfaction kicks in after seven years – and the temptation to be unfaithful becomes irresistible.   more »

According to a survey published this week, being married is more important than education or having a mortgage to service in helping the unemployed get back to work. The research found that married men are 33 per cent more likely to find a job after being made redundant than those who are single or divorced.   more »

This week, Kevin McGee, the former civil partner of actor and comedian Matt Lucas, was found dead in his flat after apparently hanging himself. He was 32.   more »

Facebook has become the new Friends Reunited. Just as the website designed to bring together old school friends reignited thousands of playground romances – and broke up countless marriages as a result – so “second generation” social networking sites such as Facebook are also being used to track down lost loves.   more »

One of the country’s most senior family lawyers, Baroness Deech, has criticised court awards to ex-wives of half a couple’s wealth. She says settlements that keep women in comfort at the expense of their former husbands should be scrapped – on the basis they are unfair to men and demeaning to women.   more »

A sleep expert claims the secret to a long and happy marriage could be having separate beds. He might also have added that one of the best things about getting divorced is having the bed to yourself!   more »

She is known as “The Queen of Mean” thanks to her acerbic presentation style on The Weakest Link. Yet even someone as tough and resilient as Anne Robinson found divorce to be an extremely painful process.   more »

John Cleese’s divorce from wife number three, Alyce Faye Eichelberger, has reportedly culminated in the actor and comedian being forced to hand over nearly £12.5 million of his fortune. The payout is expected to reduce the 69-year-old’s overall wealth to about £10 million and may mean that she is worth more than he is.   more »

Pictures of Samantha Burke showing off her baby bump have appeared on the internet. The part-time model, who is seven months’ pregnant, looks happy and excited. As well she might do. For the 24-year-old American is believed to be demanding nearly £90,000 a year from the baby’s father, British actor Jude Law - £6,000-a-month child maintenance and £1,200 a month for rent and bills.   more »

Divorce severely damages people’s long-term health, even if they remarry, according to new research. The impact of marriage breakdown or the death of a spouse continues to have a “lingering, detrimental” effect on physical wellbeing because it affects the body’s immune system, says a study carried out at the University of Chicago and John Hopkins University, Baltimore. This is despite the fact someone may have moved on emotionally and found happiness in another relationship.   more »

Being madly in love is widely seen as the best recipe for a successful marriage. According to research published this month, however, love is little more than a starting point.   more »

A think-tank run by former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith wants to see a Tory government bring in a compulsory three-month “cooling off” period to prevent what it considers to be ill-though-out quickie divorces.   more »

Pre-nuptial agreements (PNAs), in which a couple set the financial terms of their divorce before they get married, have held legal sway in America and much of Europe for some years. In England & Wales, however, PNAs are not enforceable and, until recently, couples could not rely on the courts holding a couple to the terms of the PNA.   more »

The first high profile ex-couple to feel the effect of new legislation that allows the media into family courts in England and Wales are Earl Spencer and his estranged wife Caroline.   more »

Mobile technology is a wonderful invention. It allows us to keep in touch with work colleagues, friends and family wherever we happen to be and at whatever time of the day. The likes of iphones, email and social networking internet sites allow us to communicate with people we might otherwise not hear from and aid us in our business lives. They keep us in the loop - enabling us to be “out there” even when we’re tucked up bed.   more »

A study carried out by researchers at Cornell University, New York State, found that youngsters whose parents regularly argue are more likely to drop out of school, use drugs and binge drink. They are also more likely to have children early and outside marriage, as well as experience the failure of their own relationship.   more »

If you watched the latest series of The Apprentice, which ended on Sunday, you will be familiar with contestant Lorraine Tighe, a 37-year-old single mother of two daughters, who narrowly missed out on a place in the final.   more »

The Press has devoted many column inches to the apparent end of the marriage of singer Peter Andre and model Katie Price, aka Jordan – a relationship born and played out in the glare of publicity. The media spotlight has also fallen on their three children.   more »