Top judge calls for less acrimonious divorces

MR Justice Coleridge says too many couples are squabbling in court, reports the Times.
Too right. The senior High Court family judge says that rather than following the example of Sir Paul and Heather McCartney, they should be finding a more reasoned solution.
Well said Sir. If only more judges would speak up. It's good to see some are in touch. I bet he even knows who Gazza is.
Sir Jeremiah Harman meanwhile, who thankfully is no longer on the bench, once claimed not to have heard of the troubled Geordie star.
"Is there not an opera called Gazza Ladra?" he famously asked. When he was told Gazza was in fact a footballer, he asked: "Rugby or Association?"

Sex named as most common grounds for divorce

SEX is the most common factor in a couple getting divorced, the excellent Divorce Diva blog reports today.

That may not (cough) come as a surprise - especially as it includes infidelity. But hang on a minute, according to family law specialists Wooley & Co, it also applies to 'unusual sexual preferences.'

Call me old fashioned but shouldn't couples have a pretty good idea of what each other likes in that department before they tie the knot? Then you can run for the hills if you're not the same way inclined. Or perhaps not, sorry Mum.

Would you give your old flame's jewellery to your new love?

DON'T you just love surveys carried out by PR departments? One latest piece of such research tells us that one in four people in the UK would lavish their current partner with jewellery originally splashed out on for a former love.

Charming. The good news is that apparently, three quarters of us, erm wouldn't.

The poll of "almost" 2,000 (well 1,904) people was carried out by Bloom & Co, a jewellery repair and remodelling service.

UK Divorce rate hits new low

SO the divorce rate has hit a 26-year low according to the office for National Statistics, reports BBC Online.

I suppose it just might have something to do with the fact that the same department said in March that the level of marriages had hit the lowest rate since records began in 1862.

So rather than the statistics meaning we are getting better at managing relationships, it's simply we are wondering why we need marry at all.

Credit crunch adds to pressure on divorced and separated couples

This piece in The Guardian G2 revealed a personal category that was new to me – the SBLT, Separated But Living Together.

The other necessity for these couples must be a vGSoH.

"Couples break up online to beat the credit crunch"

THAT'S the state of affairs reported by Mark Keenan, of Divorce-online, who says business is booming.

He adds: "Increasing numbers of couples in the process of divorce are heading online to deal with their divorce rather than heading down the high street to instruct a solicitor because of the credit crunch and the need to save money."

"The high cost of using a solicitor which can average over £900 plus court fees has driven couples to the web to find cheaper alternatives such as Divorce-Online where fees start at just £65 for an uncontested divorce".

Conflicting reports on military divorce

I THOUGHT this was an interesting round-up by Pamela Stokes-Egglestone, who discovered different reports have different slants on divorce stats in the US military.

But she says: "What is consistent across all of my research is that female soldier divorce rates are several times higher than their male counterparts."

Pamela writes that this may be connected with support services being more weighted towards women. That's a real shame.

Divorce as a Father's Day present? Er, no thanks

FATHER'S Day doesn't really fall on April 1, does it? According to what this report has to say, I think some may prefer it did.

'Splitting up is hard to do' say same sex couples

THERE'S an interesting piece here about how gay couples, having won the right to marry, are now struggling to part.