I work as a divorce attorney at a mid-sized law firm in New York City. In the Chrysler Building to be exact.
Divorce is one of the most difficult lifeevents a person may go through. It’s ranked right up there with death. And sowork, while very rewarding helping individuals navigate through a tough time,can also be very stressful.
Cue the Real Housewives. I’m a majorfan. Huge. Somehow, despite my busy schedule, I make time to watch the showreligiously. And I mean, every city. Even Dallas and Potomac.
It is a great escape from my Realnon-housewife life. A premium way to unwind. Luann stumbling into the bushes.Dorinda making everything nice and clipping it. Erika patting the puss.Charisse building her champagne room (where can I get one of those?). Nenedoing anything. Lydia’s mom sprinkling fairy dust on everyone she meets.
But it also, at its best, delves intoreal issues that real women face. Case in point, how many housewives are evenhousewives at this point? We’ve seen so many through divorce. This isreflective of the fact that divorce rates remain very high. About 40% of firstmarriages, and over 60% and 70% of second and third marriages, end indivorce.
And with Luann’s fall from, “I’vegot the yacht”, to filing for divorce 7 months later, I thought maybe it’stime to meld the two things I know well – divorce law topics ripped from realhousewives headlines.
This blog will address legal issuessuch as, can you erase a parent? What happens in terms of dollars and centswhen a spouse commits adultery? The prevalence of domestic violence, even amongstrong women like Sheree and Kenya. Why did Phaedra’s divorce take so long? Whogets the penthouse?
I hope through this series you canlearn the answers to some family law questions raised from the show. And maybeeven learn a thing or two that you can put to use in your own real life.
Rebecca A. Provder, Esq. 