Celebrities seem to do separation and divorce so easily, don't they?
I have been reading about Katie Price's latest marriage breakdown this week and how she is to file for divorce from Alex Reid and possibly move to the US. Then there's Halle Berry, reportedly pulling out of a film to fight her ex-partner for custody of their daughter.
How many of us mere mortals can take months off work to deal with our domestic issues? Or plot a move to another country once free of a dead relationship?
Although any breakdown is sad - particularly when there are children involved - there is one thing that makes these showbiz splits just that bit easier, isn't there? Money.
My solicitor told me this week that a court case to sort out my separation could cost anywhere between £5,000 and £15,000. I was still recovering from the shock of potentially having to cough up half of £15,000 when he added: each.
I had already spend a fortnight weighing up the pros and cons of using the solicitor just to write a few letters at around £300 an hour. The thought of spending thousands was not only galling (not to mention impossible) financially, it was also pretty horrible: how could we have got to the stage where a judge in a courtroom makes the decisions on what is best for our family?
Fortunately, it isn't going to get to that point, because we are trying to sort it all out ourselves, with minimum input from our solicitors, but it has made me think - how many women stay in truly dreadful relationships because they can't afford to get out, and conversely, how many people with more money than sense just marry and procreate at will, knowing they can always buy their way out when they've had enough?
What do you think?
Did you separation or divorce ruin you financially?
Do you think people stay in relationships because they can't afford to leave?
Read more of The Semi-Detached Parent here.