Saul Hudson, who most people know as "Slash," filed for divorce from wife Perla Ferrar after nearly nine years of marriage, according to celebrity gossip site TMZ. The couple was married in October 2001 and separated on July 15 of this year.

TMZ cited unnamed sources as saying the breakup is "extremely acrimonious" and teased the story with the statement "it's gonna get ugly," but the relatively bland boilerplate language on court documents doesn't reveal much (PDF).

Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers may be having a lackluster year even though the team is shouldering a hefty $95.4 million team payroll (10th highest in the league according to ESPN). But the biggest liability for the Dodgers may be the bitter divorce of its co-owners, Jamie and Frank McCourt.

Accusations and insults have been flowing from both sides of the dispute for a while; but USA Today and other news sources reported that the McCourt divorce has only just now begun. And since both parties claim ownership of the storied baseball franchise, the couple's divorce may hold sway over its future.

The Dodgers organization is valued between $750 million and $1.5 billion, a fortune unheard of to most Chicago family law attorneys with respect to marital property.

Actor Michael Douglas and ex-wife Diandra Douglas ended their marriage a decade ago. But a follow-up to the popular 1980s film "Wall Street" appropriately titled "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" has prompted them to lawyer-up once again, the BBC reported.

Diandra is seeking half the earnings from the forthcoming film, which reprises the role of greedy antihero Gordon Gekko. She claims a clause in their divorce settlement entitles her to a portion of earnings from "spin-offs" of his films. But is the film is a "spin-off" or, as attorneys for Michael Douglas claim, merely a sequel?

This is a unique case rooted in entertainment law, but a divorce attorney in Chicago could better explain how an Illinois court would interpret such language.

First let's set aside rumors that Elin Nordegren secured a divorce settlement from Tiger Woods for the astronomical sum of $700 million; it actually was closer to the still-high amount of $100 million (based on estimates). Still, some attorneys say even that much was way too much, a CBS News article reported. 

I'm sure plenty of Chicago family law attorneys have their own opinions but one divorce attorney, Raoul Felder, said he believes Elin Nordegren made off like a bandit.

He said the high settlement (which he believes is too high) can be attributable to Tiger Woods' desperate situation at the time and lack of public support. The real settlement amount, which he believes was somewhere between $100 million and $500 million, is confidential:

A woman in the Seattle area faces charges of theft and perjury after allegedly faking pregnancy and bilking a man out of thousands of dollars in child support payments, the Seattle Post Intelligencer reported.

According to King County prosecutors, Federal Way resident Carmen Lynn Johnsen told her then-boyfriend in December 2008 that she was pregnant and that he was the father. She took pregnancy tests one month later, showing she was not pregnant, but prosecutors said she kept that to herself.

It must be noted that DNA tests used to determine paternity are extremely accurate and in any event, it may be a good idea to consult with an Illinois family lawyer first before agreeing to child support payments.

The Daily Mail reported on a as-of-yet unsubstantiated rumor that the parents of the late "King of Pop" Michael Jackson, Joe and Katherine Jackson, are divorced after 60 years of marriage. They were separated in 2005 and have been living apart ever since but Katherine Jackson allegedly said she has had enough of his reportedly cruel ways.

A history of emotional or physical spousal abuse usually doesn't help the case of that individual in a divorce proceeding. Chicago family law attorneys could better explain how such allegations might play out in their divorce (if it indeed is in the works). 

Many of our laws and statutes are based on centuries-old English customs and are known as common law, such as those forbidding murder and theft, as outlined by LawBrain. But others take time to develop, often through the court system, and often can be traced back to specific stories.

The divorce and custody dispute of a New York couple married in 1804, for example, set the groundwork for U.S. child custody law, according to a St. Louis Post-Dispatch article. Quite a bit has changed in the 200 years since, but the story provides a glimpse into the origins of current custody law.

Maybe it shouldn't be too much of a surprise that most of the 1,004 adult Americans polled by a recent survey said they married the right person, according to an Associated Press article published in The Vancouver Sun. Otherwise, would they still be married? But only two-thirds said their spouse was their "soul mate," according to the poll.

While 97 percent of the men and 94 percent of the women in a Marist poll said they believe they got hitched to the right person, only 66 percent said they believed that person was destined to be their soul mate. Still, that figure is quite a bit higher than the estimated 50 percent of Chicago couples, for example, that eventually will need the services of an Illinois family lawyer.

Chicago father and suspected deadbeat Ronald "Boobie" McIntyre broke both legs after jumping from a third-story window after the Cook County sheriff's officers tried to arrest him for unpaid child support, according to the Chicago Tribune. 

The 35-year-old father owes $5,979.66 in court-ordered support for his children, according to police. He also has been arrested 14 times and has 80 unrelated criminal convictions, according to court records. So while his Illinois family law attorney may try to help give him some wiggle room, his chances at leniency by a family court judge don't look good.

Ohio man Maurice Lyons was apprehended and charge with aggravated murder after he allegedly stabbed wife Tonya Hunter 17 times, took her car and left her 4-year-old son on the side of the road, CBS News reported. The victim was a marriage counselor but tragically didn't realize her own marriage problems until it was too late.

This just shows how hard it can be for domestic violence victims to face reality and leave their abusers. Violent spouses rarely if ever change; so you may want to consult with a divorce attorney in Chicago if you feel threatened by your partner.

Maurice Lyons is in jail on $8 million bond. He faces the death penalty; although his criminal defense attorney argues that his client has psychiatric problems.