Tigers who tweet?

Following on from the bizarre facts that sometimes come out in divorce cases, we now hear of a tiger charity couple locked in a £50million divorce battle who are said to have fallen out after the wife gave the tigers Twitter accounts.

The husband said that this approach gave ammunition to critics of their charity, as scientists were bothered by the way the wife treated the tigers as children.

At the end of the day, the arguments are all about money - there’s £50million at stake, and the wife wants more than the husband is prepared to give!

And, in case you’re wondering, yes the tigers did tweet!

"Divorce linked to high blood pressure" - no kidding?

Sleeping badly after a divorce won't just leave you with dark circles under your eyes - research shows it could also cause dangerous increases in blood pressure, leading to serious illness.

A University of Arizona study questioned 138 people, all newly separated or divorced, about how well they were sleeping, and also took their blood pressure regularly over a seven month period.

Those people who regularly had trouble sleeping saw their blood pressure increase a few months later.

Kendra Krietsch, the study's project manager, said "If somebody is going through a divorce and unable to sleep, they really need to get some help or it could lead to problems. This study shows how important it is for all of us to value sleep and take care of ourselves.'

Another of the report's authors, David Sbarra, added: "What we found was if you're having sleep problems there is a cumulative bad effect after around ten weeks or so."

For people who have high blood pressure to begin with, the increase is not to be taken lightly, he added - high blood pressure trebles the risk of heart attacks and strokes, can damage the kidneys and eyes and is becoming increasingly linked to dementia.

I'm not entirely convinced we needed a study to tell us this, but it does serve to remind us all to look after ourselves in a divorce - chat to friends, try and do a little exercise, eat properly and don't drink too much!

Who gets the dog?

Back in January I blogged about the fact that 20% of separating couples argue about who gets the dog... Now it seems that the goalposts for decision making may be changing.

A new paper by a leading legal academic (Deborah Rook of Northumbria University) says that in the US and Israel different tests are being used to decide 'who gets the dog' in matrimonial disputes which may, in turn, lead to a shift in what factors are used in Court to decide where Fido should live.

In England and Wales we look very much to the 'property' aspect which is exactly this: who owns the dog? We'd look at who paid for it, who paid the insurance, who paid the vets bills, food, etc. In the US and Israel they're now beginning to look at 'what's in the best interests of the dog?' so factors such as the emotional bond Fido has with his humans and where he is likely to come to least physical harm.

One example cited in the paper is of a woman who wanted to keep the two family dogs in a divorce. The husband asked for the Mercedes Benz SLK instead (worth about £15,000 at the time) and that was agreed - he got the flashy car and she got the dogs.

Apparently he never even asked about them again, so the pooches were probably best off with the wife!

Britain has the highest rate of.....

Divorces in the EU!

You know that people have been saying 'one in three marriages ends in divorce' for absolutely ages?  Well, it's out of date.  According to a recent survey (from the EU's Eurostat statistical office in Luxembourg), the UK rate of divorce is now 2.8 per 1000.

It's not really something to be particularly proud of, but this is the highest rate in the EU.  Luxembourg (where the whole report came from, remember) has a rate of just 0.6 per 1000.

So, does this prove that if you love statistics you won't get divorced??