Yesterday saw the big announcement from the Palace that Prince William and Kate Middleton are engaged to be married sometime next year. For some this feels a bit like dejavu as we remember Prince Williams parents’ fairytale wedding in 1981, and we all remember how that ended as well so what if the new Royal couple end up in Divorce?

No one goes into a marriage thinking that it will end and the long relationship of Prince William and Kate Middleton makes us think this isn’t just some whirlwind romance but the couple have gone into it responsibly, however sense doesn’t guarantee a long and successful marriage and many marriages in the public eye end up in divorce.

At the moment Pre nuptual agreements are necessarily legal in the UK, although steps are being made to change this, therefore a pre nupt between Prince William and Kate Middleton may not be worth a great deal. Legally, unless agreed by a judge, the couple are entitled to a 50/50 split of assets. For you and me that is the house, the TV etc but for Prince William in 20 years time this could be the UK!

As heir to the throne and rumours of the Queen missing out Prince Charles to leave her Knigdom to Prince William, whether true or not, Prince William will most likely be King at some point in the future, and as his wife Kate Middleton will be Queen. Therefore logically in the event of a divorce she will be entitled to half a Kingdom.

This was never an issue in the old days, you may rmember Henry the 8th had no problems with divorcing or beheading his wives, but today equal rights play a part and the Royal family do not have the same power in a democratic community and do have to answer to the public.

I don’t think it will be a huge issue as we are probably looking at it being a few years down the line and Pre nupts will probably be legal if and when the coupld decide to split. Also fair arrangements would be made with Kate and her family to see she is fairly compensated and any children the couple may have.

What do you think? Discuss this and more in the My Mad Ex Divorce Forum.

From the results we will tell you if your ex is mental – or maybe it is you that is the mad one?

We thought that some of you have been going through a tough time recently and from the posts we have been reading recently you need a bit of cheering up so we decided a fun game would give you a little light relief and you can go back to the forum and chat with people on your scores and how realistic they are. As mentioned this game is just a bit of fun so feel free to pass it on to your friends using the send to a friend feature.

The How Mad is Your Ex Game was built by SEO Creative who built the Flash game based on our brief. We wanted the game to be fun but still relevant to the site and the forum.

We hope you enjoy the game and have some fun and remember to come back to the forum to discuss your stories you may get help or be able to help others with your stories.

The My Mad Ex Divorce Forum is a lighthearted Divorce and separation website that gives you the chance to get things off your chest, have some fun, get help and do it all annonymously if you like. We never share your details with third parties and protect your annonymity.

TV and radio are already promoting Christmas, whether it is your grocery shopping for the holiday period or toy adverts of what you should be getting your kids for Christmas. If you are going through a divorce or separation then this time of year is always difficult especially with the constant reminders of perfect families enjoying Christmas together.

The My Mad Ex Divorce forum have put together a few tips for Single Dad’s facing Christmas alone.

1. Try to be amicable with your ex – Your ex may be mad, or maybe you’ve found yourself acting a bit crazy after the split, either way Christmas is important if you have kids and the last thing you should be doing is arguing with your ex on Christmas day in front of them. We know it can be hard as your ex may be making things difficult or maybe you still have string feelings that mean you act a bit mad when you see them but try to remain amicable for the Christmas period at least and show your kids they are important to both of you.
2. Try to arrange time with your kids – This goes with tip number 1 as you need to speak to your ex about arranging time to see your kids, you may not get Christmas day with them but maybe you could take them out Christmas Eve or Boxing day.
3. Don’t spoil the kids – If you don’t get to see your kids often or feel bad about separating from their Mum then don’t overcompensate by spoiling them. Many Single Dad’s feel guilty that they don’t see their kids very often and want to spend money on them to prove they still love them, this comes from emotional issues that you need to tackle seperately but in the mean time be thoughtful with your time and your gifts to your children. The last thing your kids need is their Dad going bankrupt and in the long run they will remember the thoughtful gifts and the good times they have with you.
4. Don’t Drink too much – Drinking and Christmas go together like Turkey and Cranberry sauce, but try to avoid the temptation to get too drunk as alcohol is a depressant and your unresolved issues about separating or feelings about your ex may rear their ugly head. Single Dad’s who get too drunk at Christmas just feel even more isolated and often ostracise and push away their family and friends after too many egg nogs. After a seperation people are more succeptible to depression and many single Dad’s don’t look for support in the same way as single Mums and alcohol can be that push into depression and long term health problems.
5. Be with family and friends – After a divoce or separation many single Dad’s want to isolate themselves, don’t do this as you culd fall into bad habits and be succeptible to depression. Try to be with friends, work mates or family, don’t spend all of the Christmas season locked up in your home alone try to be sociable, put on a brave face and you never know you may just enjoy yourself.

If you think we’ve missed some points or want to discuss what it is like for a single Dad facing Christmas alone join the conversation at My Mad Ex’s Divorce forum.

These findings are part of a study on 14,000 children born in Britain betweenthe years 2000 and 2002. Other factors that contributed to a childs behaviour were qualifications of the parents, and household incomes, these factors were said to potentially have “damaging long-term consequences” on young children.

Lisa Calderwood, from London University’s Institute of Education, said: “Living apart from natural fathers can be associated with poverty and negative outcomes for children.”

In light of the new ASBO community where many children are running wild and causing problems in local communities as well as inner cities it is no wonder researchers have been looking into what affects childrens behaviour. This is being researched further as part of the Millennium Cohort Study, which is being sponsored by the Economic and Social Research Council.

In one study, researchers observed and questioned over 13,500 mothers to get more of an insight into the circumstances that affect their childs behaviour. The Mothers were asked to rate their childs hyperactivity, emotional problems, manners and conduct and relationships with other children. The results were then grouped into 3 groups ranging from ‘Normal’ to ‘Serious Behavioural Problems’.

The results of the survey found that children with lone parents or step children were more likely to be badly behaved, the figures were 15% of stepchildren and 12% of children with lone parents fell into the badly behaved category compared to only 6% of naughty children living with both natural parents. It also showed that serious behavioural problems were less common among children whose families had a higher level of parental qualifications.

Many people are calling out for more evidence to prove these facts and the difference in percentage isn’t huge not like 6% compared to say 30% or 40%.

What are your thoughts? Are you a single parent who is struggling to cope on your own with a naughty child? Do you agree that children are naughtier in single parent families? Do you think the study is hyped up propaganda to try to make us conform to the conventional two parent family?

Single Mums will recieve job seekers allowance from the age their child or children are aged 7, this means single Mums are being forced to try to find work  of at least 16 hours a week while their child is at school. You may think this is fair enough as they don’t need to be at home on their own but for many single Mums finding flexible jobs that will allow you time to take your child to school and pick them up after school is very difficult.

By working these additional hours many single Mums will have to pay out for extra child care or pay for after school clubs for their children, you have to remember many single Mums don’t recieve emotional or financial support from their childrens dad’s. By having to shell out for childcare or clubs this means even by working many Mums will be worse off as child care can be very expensive.

These are of course the lucky Mums that can find work, with the economic climate as it is the number of jobs available are at a minimum and many employers will not want to employ a single Mum who has to take time off everytime her child is ill as there is no one else to look after them. Although employers would not admit to this as it is ileagal if you have a small business you may not be able to afford to keep someone on who takes time off for dentist and doctors appointments for their kids, or comes in tired from cooking and cleaning or staying up late with a sick child.

What do you think of the changes to the spending? It is not just single Mums that are affected many other families will be losing money from the spending cuts, with benefits, tax credits, or child allowance. Have you been affected? Do you agree with the cuts? Discuss this and more on the My Mad Ex Divorce forum.

Prenup agreements are very popular in Europe and America and any in the UK it has only been very wealthy couples who consider these at the time of marriage especially since they do not hold the same weight as in a UK court as they do overseas. This is all changing as UK courts have agreed that prenup agreements should be seen as a legal document and counted as such.

On the back of this revelation in the courts it is estimated that more and more UK couples will be getting prenups, even those who are not consider the most wealthy but may have sizeable assets before the wedding. This trend is being enhanced as department stores are now looking to add prenup agreements as part of their wedding services.

Is it sad that we now consider the break up of a marriage at a time when you should be optimistic for the future of the relationship? Many people say the prenup is just a document like your will that is their just in case to protect you if the worst happens, however leave it in a drawer, forget about it and go about your relationship as normal. Could you do that?

Many people have prenups, Simon Cowells wedding was postponed as they worked out the details of a lengthy 40 page prenup withhis fiancee, getting to the point where she seemed to be quite sick of the legalities and nearly called the whole thing off (if we are to believe the media hype). It hardly adds romance to this time, asking your partner not to take all your money if you split up and how do you breach the subject without accusing your partner of only being with you for your money.

What are your thoughts on prenups? Do you wish you had one for your marriage? Do you think they are a good idea? Or do you think they are an insult to the institute of marriage? Tell us on the My Mad Ex Divorce Forum.

The bookies have been taking bets on how much serial adulterer Tiger Woods would have to pay his ex wife Elin Nordegren from the moment she first filed for divorce. Tiger Woods affairs earlier combined with his wealth meant that this was one of the most talked about celebrity divorces this year.

Today the Swedish beauty and long suffering wife, Elin Nordegren, walked away with $110 million! This amount will have hurt Tiger Woods financially and I’m sure would do a lot for his ex wife in terms of recovery from the strings of adultery with many different women.

With an amount such as this we can assume that Elin will be financially secure for the rest of her life, as long as she doesn’t do something really stupid, but she has claimed that she will not let the money go to her head and is hoping to live a modest lifestyle away from Tiger Woods. I’m pretty sure her idea of a modest lifestyle is probably very different to mine though!

Sources say that when flying between Orlando to California she could have hired a private jet but instead opted for a seat on a Virgin plane – well at least it wasn’t a flight service like Ryan air

“She could afford the jet but didn’t even consider it,” the source said. “She’s not cheap, but she’s just not throwing money around and wasting it the way some people would.”

“Tiger is worth hundreds of millions of dollars, with his earning, investments and the endorsement deals he’s made over the years,” a source told RadarOnline.com. “Elin got a lot of money, but she could have received more.

“She wanted enough money to not change her luxurious lifestyle but she didn’t try to take him for every penny that she could.”

We wish Elin every luck in the future as she gets over the break up from Tiger Woods, after having marital problems and affairs exploited in the press this must have been a very hard year for her, but I’m sure the $110 million will go some way to helping her get over it all.

Browsing through the internet this morning I found this article on Sexy Social Media.com, Social media has always intrigued me as it can provide a lifeline for many people, but on the other hand gives people enough rope to hang themselves. The latter seems to be the case in this instance as a Tweet or Facebook update sent in a moment of frustration could be used against you in a court of law.

Social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and some forums have become more popular with people of all ages and are a useful tool to are intended to act as online communities where people can meet and share information about themselves. This information is often public therfore more people than just your online friends may have access to your photos and comments on your day to day activities. By having this information publicly accessible then it can be used in a court of law!

This can get very dangerous as many people use social networks to rant about a situation, especially tweets and facebook status updates. What you would normally say in the heat of the moment to a friend is now written down and can be used against you, even if it was just a flippant remark that you didn’t mean to be taken in that way, or after you had calmed down maybe thought better of.

From the sexy social media site apparently 81% of Divorce lawyers have seen a significant increase in the use of Facebook and other social networking sites as evidence in divorce cases. Photos of a partner on a night out could be used to try to discredit them and show them in a bad light, or to try to prove adultery in some messy divorces. Normally many divorces end with a lot of bad feeling but not all cases resort to digging around for evidence however with such information readily available your Mad Ex may be stalking your facebook gathering information to use against you. Common ones are if a father is refusing to pay child maintenance due to having no money yet posts lots of photos of himself on holiday or nights out he may post that he has bought himself a new playstation 3 or car.

If you are going through a messy divorce then you should consider taking down any information that could be used against you, try to delete and evidence and make sure friends don’t tag you in any photos that couold be construed as being bad. You may consider deleting your profile completely. Some people have commented that the temptation to stalk your ex on Facebook and Twitter has meant that more exes have been crossing over to that bunny boiling mad ex persona.

At My Mad Ex we provide a forum for people to vent their anger and share their stories, we recommend you don’t get too specific and use a name that can’t be traced back to you.

What are your thoughts on this blog? Do you think social media has increased the temptation of exes stalking? Do you stalk your ex? Has your ex used your public profiles against you in an argument or even in court? Have you? Discuss this and more at the My Mad Ex Divorce forum.

The lyrics are said to include lines about slashing his tyres, burning his suits, knocking back apologies, blocking calls and selling all her diamonds,” The Sun reports.

The song starts off like a weepy heartbreaker singing, ‘I cried when I heard you were cheatin’/ I cried when I said I was leavin’/ I cried when my heart stopped believin’/ But I’m all out of tears’.

However in the chorus Cheryl explains these aren’t just tears of pain but ‘happy tears’

The new album is packed with great hits and has been helped with stars such as Will.I.Am and Travie McCoy and has a completely different sound to her Girls Aloud hits she is famous for.

Many artists use past and present experiences as inspiration for their songs and Cheryl had her first solo hit with fight for this love in which she describes how she got through her husbands last affair and the couple came back stronger. Ironic now that after a divorce that song seems quite heartbreaking as Cheryl had obviously hoped their married life was at a turning point only to be hurt again.

The nations sweetheart isn’t one to lie down and take it though, her northern courage has come out and after a fast divorce is now putting her life back together, and with help from a few select celebrity friends is now more popular than ever and her new songs will probably do well in the charts.

Cherly’s song may be about her cheating ex but she has obviously managed to turn it around and sees the divorce as a positive step in her life as she looks forward to a better future without her love rat husband.

What do you think? Woulod you love to publicly get back at your ex? Do you think Cheryl is brave or is she using her public divorce to gain fans and sell her song? Discuss this and many other stories at the My Mad Ex Divorce forum.

In Egypt coupleshave to marry under religious law,  however over the past few years the Egyptian divorce rates have increased by a staggering 40% between the ages of 18 and 29. These figures were released from a study caried out by the Center for Public Mobilization and Statics.

As Egyptians marry under religious law, the majority of Egyptians being Muslim means that Islamic shariah law is applied to marriages. When divorce is considered many women’s rights groups feel that Islamic law is in favour of men in these circumstances, and many other situations.

Egypt does have a Coptic Christian minority which therefore falls under church rules, this means someone who has been married may not re marry after a divorce except in very specific cases. In 2000 a law was passed that granted Egyptian women the right to divorce their husbands without the husbands consent, however by doing this they forfeit any financial rights in a settlement. This has obviously caused quite a stir amongst more conservative groups in the country.

So what do you think? Do you think Moushira Khattab has overeacted with her statement that divorce is a ‘danger’ to society? Do you think that she has a point considering the laws surrounding Egyptian marriage and divorce? We want to hear your thoughts at the My Mad Ex Divorce forum.