TV personality’s marriage to end in divorce

TV personality’s marriage to end in divorce

The husband of TV personality Nigella Lawson has filed for divorce, following an incident where he was filmed allegedly choking her while they were eating out at a London restaurant. The mentor on ABC’s program “The Taste” has not commented on the prospective divorce, but her husband, an advertising mogul and an art collector, has issued statements denying that he abused her in any way, but conceding that the couple had a contentious argument. Shortly after the incident, Lawson moved out of the couple’s London home.

Divorces, whether in Illinois or elsewhere, can be emotionally draining for the parties involved, particularly when the relationship between them is not amicable, as it is not in this case. The spouse’s desire for revenge and to hurt the other spouse may affect everything from property division to child support or custody, and this makes things more difficult and contentious for everybody involved.

In deciding a fair and equitable division of the property, as well as alimony or child support payments, courts look to the income levels of the spouses, as well as what an equitable or fair division of the property between the two spouses would entail. One spouse does not have the legal right to prevent the other from living in the marital home, except in cases of domestic violence, and the marital home is typically given to the parent most involved in raising the children in divorces involving children.

Both spouses involved in a prospective divorce have the legal option to create an agreement regarding issues such as alimony payments, child support and custody and property division, so that the split is as painless and without toxic emotional issues as possible. If the parties cannot agree, then the courts have a divorce system in place to work out a fair and equitable outcome. In either case, the divorcing spouses have the legal right to work out a fair and just end to the marriage.

Source: Chicago Sun Times, “Nigella Lawson marriage bites dust,” Bill Zwecker, July 7, 2013