Over the last years, more people have been getting a divorce in Europe. The 2020 pandemic seemed to have accentuated this trend as many couples were forced into lockdown together and were forced to face old relationship wounds or problems in isolation. Eurostat points out that Ireland is one of the EU states to have recorded the lowest divorce rates in recent years, however, the situation is not the same across all Member States.

Pandemic divorces

Italy is one of the EU countries that have reported an increase in divorces and at the same time a decrease in marriages. Official data presented by a local news source shows that the divorce rate increased by 60 percent in Italy in 2020 (according to the Italian National Divorce Association).

Other countries have not currently released official data for the 2020 divorce rates. The UK’s Office for National Statistics is expected to do so later in 2021, however, an increase is expected as divorce centers also processed a backlog of work, resulting in 8% more petitions, a higher number expected for 2020. According to data from the UK’s Office for National Statistics, unreasonable behavior remains the most common reason for opposite-sex divorces and it may very well be cited as the reason for pandemic divorces.

Historically, data from Eurostat shows us that the highest divorce rates in Europe were recorded in Latvia and Lithuania, Denmark, and Sweden. On the opposite side of the spectrum, Malta and Ireland are the EU Member States with the lowest divorce rates, followed by Slovenia, Bulgaria, Croatia, and Italy. However, with an increase in divorces in Italy because of the pandemic, it is reasonable to expect the same from other countries with previously low rates of divorce.

Seeking aid

Dealing with marital or relationship problems is unique for every couple. Partners may choose to separate or divorce and in this case, they are advised to seek legal aid from a specialized attorney, such as a divorce lawyer in Ireland from LawyersIreland.eu for couples living in this country. Others may choose to save their relationship and schedule an appointment with a couple’s therapist.

The coronavirus outbreak has put families and couples under significant strain, and it has prompted many of us to take a sincere look at ourselves, our friends and families, evaluate and adjust accordingly to improve the quality of our relationships.

This is a Press Release. Here you can order press releases on this site.

There’s a lot of things people plan for in marriage. Buying a new home, joint finances, having kids and plenty of other minor plans you stick on your fridge. Divorce is never one of them.

With divorce rates now hovering around the 50% rate, I’d hate to ignore the unhappily married couples, as there are certainly unique planning circumstances they must address.

Lifelong Commitments in the COVID-19 Pandemonium

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the “in sickness and health” part of the vows has been subject to severe neglect never seen before.

The statistics are terrifying for a nation that had a 50% divorce rate before COVID. For one, the number of people seeking divorce was 34% higher from March through June 2020 compared to 2019. Data shows that 31% of surveyed couples admitted that lockdowns caused irreparable damage to their relationships.

If you find yourself to be one of those whose marriage survived the brunt of COVID-19 by a whisker, it may be time for you to consider planning for a divorce. Here are some tips that may help as you approach and/or become divorced.

Good Documentation Will Pull You Through

The importance of having good documentation throughout and in the tail-end of a marriage cannot be overstated. Money issues are oftentimes what kill marriages and haunt people long after they’re separated.

Keeping a good documentation of all your assets and all your debts is what will pull you through a divorce with your sanity intact. It is also highly advisable to have copies of the divorce decree and solid accounting that can be traced back to every single major asset purchase and sale to help with the division of assets.

Always Update Accounts and Notify Institutions

During a marriage, many partners find themselves making legal changes that are binding. These include changing names, addresses, credit cards, filing taxes and work benefits. All these changes and commitments unwind during those last days of marriage.

Story continues

During your divorce, make sure to notify the necessary departments, such as employers and banks, of the changes or adjustments you are making. If you’re changing your name, a visit to your Social Security office is highly advisable. So is changing all your addresses if you plan to move out.

Moreover, in case you have any kids together when you are at the point of divorce, notify your soon-to-be ex-spouse’s employer in case you may be entitled to any benefits. Most importantly, if you have your ex-spouse as a beneficiary in any legal contract, you may want to change that at the point of divorce.

Joint Accounts May Be an Issue

The jury on whether couples should keep joint accounts is still out. However, this does not negate the reality that many couples find themselves in messy divorces with their finances and credit still intact. To keep your physical, mental and spiritual health intact, flee any joint account you’re in at the point of divorce or as you approach it.

In the common occurrence that you and your ex have names on bills, remove your name from the aforementioned bills to detach yourself from your ex’s ability to pay bills. Failure to do so may affect your credit if your ex-spouse stops paying their bills.

In a divorce, protecting your credit is of utmost importance. If you’re a non-working spouse, you will never go wrong with applying for a new credit card before the divorce. You can usually claim all the income in the marriage during the application process. However, if you’re divorced and have no real income, you may not qualify. Also, ensure that the credit card you have is in your name with you as the cardholder and not just the authorized user.

Assemble Your Team

Divorces are some of the most complex things people undergo in their lives. There are many cards in play involving different institutions, lawyers, accountants and tax experts. Don’t go through it alone.

The greatest gift you can give yourself during a divorce is to find and assemble a team to help you pull through. It goes a long way in ensuring health, wealth and happiness. You’ll be facing financial and tax-planning issues, among all the other things to consider. This will be an integral moment in understanding your newfound finances.

The process is painful and unpleasant by its nature, so do your best to settle things quickly and with as little back and forth as possible.

Your Take-Away

A happy marriage is not guaranteed, and happily ever after is elusive in many cases. Contrary to popular belief, divorce doesn’t always have to be an endless nightmare. With the right advice and planning, you can walk out of it with both your sanity and peace of mind intact.

Adele and Simon Konecki have reportedly finalised their divorce nearly two years after their split. 

The Someone Like You hitmaker, 32, and charity CEO, 46, are now said to be ‘officially divorced’ after a judge signed off on the settlement on Thursday, according to US Weekly.    

It comes following reports that Adele was forced to use mediators to split up her £140million ($190million) fortune during proceedings. 

The US publication claims the singer and charity CEO submitted a ‘judgement package’ last month in which the former couple ‘opted to determine rights to community property and debts through mediation’.

Adele and Simon are said to have ‘represented themselves’ in the case.   

MailOnline has contacted Adele’s representatives for comment.

The former couple announced they were going their separate ways in April 2019, with Adele filing court documents five months later.

In April 2020, Adele’s request to keep the details of her divorce private was granted by a court in LA.

In January, it was claimed that Adele was forced to use mediators to split up her £140 million fortune during her divorce from Simon.

The singer reportedly enlisted help to manage the terms of her settlement, which was finally filed earlier that month, two years after she split from the charity CEO. 

Sources told The Sun that despite Adele and Simon’s breakup originally staying amicable, they had to use mediators to agree certain terms to their settlement. 

It is thought that a majority of the disputes stemmed from dividing up the singer’s £140 million ($190 million) fortune, including their impressive £34.7m ($47.4m) property portfolio, after they agreed on joint custody of their son Angelo, eight.   

A source said: ‘They made it very clear they didn’t want to set ­lawyers on each other but the process hasn’t been exactly straightforward all the same. The priority was making sure they did right by their son, Angelo.

‘The first thing they agreed on was sharing custody, and since then it has been about dividing up the rest of their marital finances fairly.

‘Fortunately they have ­managed to get there without an explosive public court case, slanging matches or scandalous claims about each other, and that gives them the best ­possible chance of ­staying on good terms in the future.’

MailOnline contacted representatives of Adele for comment at the time. 

Prior to this, it was reported by Us Weekly that Adele, who has lost 100lbs since their split, and Simon filed the terms of their divorce settlement with the court on Friday, January 15. 

Although Adele and Simon had finished their work to finalise the divorce at the time, a judge had to sign off on the paperwork before their marriage could officially end.   

But despite Adele’s mammoth fortune, earning £73k ($82k)-a-day in royalties alone, insiders claimed there was never going to be a nasty fall-out with them over finances. 

While not quite in the same league, former Etonian Simon has his own money and is reportedly worth around £2m ($2.7m) in his own right. It has been reported they did not even sign a pre-nuptial agreement before they wed.

After becoming a foreign exchange broker, Simon invested in his self built Broker association and then built Drop4Drop, a charity which funds sustainable clean water solutions to countries that need it most.   

It has been reported that the pair, who were married for three years and together for eight, were keen to avoid a nasty ‘Hollywood style’ divorce which would ‘drag on for years.’ 

Sources previously insisted the separation was ‘unlikely’ to turn nasty. An insider told the Mail On Sunday: ‘Simon’s not like that. He’s got his own money after investing in his self built Broker association.

‘His only concern now is that he and Adele remain the best parents they can be to Angelo.’

In fact, it was revealed in May 2019, that Adele had splashed out on a £8.53million Beverly Hills home just feet away from Simon’s pad in order that they can co-parent their son.

Adele began dating Simon in 2011, and in October 2012 they welcomed their son Angelo Adkins, now eight-years-old, before later marrying in secret in 2016.

Konecki was previously married to stylist Clary Fisher. They have a ten-year-old daughter and split in 2010. He met Adele the following year, after reportedly being introduced by Ed Sheeran.  

The former couple announced they were going their separate ways in April 2019, with Adele filing court documents five months later. 

Adele’s representative said in a statement in April 2019: ‘Adele and her partner have separated. They are committed to raising their son together lovingly. As always they ask for privacy. There will be no further comment.’

At the time they announced their separation, a source close to the couple claimed that their relationship had changed rapidly into a platonic arrangement.

They told US Weekly at the time: ‘Their relationship evolved and they became more like friends than lovers. They realised the romantic love was no longer there. They’re disappointed, but it just didn’t work out.’  

The pair will share custody of their son Angelo, but ‘financial, sales or other confidential business information’ regarding the proceedings will not be ‘publicly available.’

Adele and Simon had split their time between a gated mansion in Los Angeles, a £40million ($44million) property in Kensington and another home in Brighton.

Back in 2012 she bought a mews house in Kensington, for £5.65million ($7m) before purchasing the house next door for £5.38million ($6.6m) with plans to knock the two through in order to give her extra space.

In 2019, Adele raked in nearly £23,000-a-day despite not releasing a record or going on a tour. She made a staggering £8.6million profit last year after taxes, which works out to £23,719 a day.

According to The Sun, she has two companies which look after her royalties and album sales. The first is Melted Stone Ltd which makes a net profit of £483,546 while Melted Stone Publishing Ltd makes £8,173,994.

The publication also reported that her balance sheets lodged at Companies House comes to nearly £41million – making her one of the richest women in entertainment. 

Adele’s fortune is continuing to sky-rocket, with Adele making nearly £18million from her business without stepping foot into the recording studio in the last two years.

The talented songstress – whose last album was called, 25, in 2015 – had her fortunes estimated at £65million in 2016. At the time, she was the second highest paid woman in music.

It was also reported that Adele raked in a whopping £142million profit from her 15-month world tour, which kicked off in 2016. 

Records revealed that the singer’s company, Remedy Touring LLP, made the hefty sum from both ticket and merchandise sales – but that Adele paid herself £42million.

According to The Sun, the hitmaker’s company made close to £70million profit during the Adele Live – with the remaining funds covering the tour’s costs.

The sums mean Adele made almost £1million per show, having performed 121 dates between February 2016 and June 2017 in Europe, North America and Oceania.

Notoriously private, Adele first referenced her marriage at the 2017 Grammys, where she confirmed they had married by acknowledging Simon as her husband.

After she collected the Album of the Year gong, she said: ‘Grammys, I appreciate it. The Academy, I love you. My manager, my husband and my son you’re the only reason I do it.’

But it was clear all was not well when Simon attended the Brit Awards two months before they announced their split in 2019, without Adele by his side, instead choosing to attend with friend, EastEnders star, Sid Owen.

Adele’s no show – having previously been a staple at the awards – was said to have been a clear indicator that all was not well between the pair.

A source said: ‘The Brits were confirmation in a way. Everyone was hoping Adele would come but she stayed away. Things had already broken down for a while.

Simon’s company sponsored the event and he hosted a table. The source continued: ‘There were whispers running up to the Brits that Adele and Simon’s relationship was over, but Simon was in such a good mood at the party, everyone hoped it wasn’t true,’ said the friend.

The couple’s last joint appearance had been a month earlier at an Elton John concert in LA.

It was claimed that the pair’s ‘unconventional relationship’ had worked for some time, in the end they were ‘barely together’.

Adele was said to have enjoyed being stateside while Simon preferred to be in the UK with family and friends, combined with work trips which took him away from his wife.

The star had a night out with Jennifer Lawrence, 30, in New York in March 2016, where she was seen doing shots at a gay bar.

It was claimed the night out was a ‘divorce party’ for the star, as she looked forward to the future, with Jennifer also celebrating her engagement to Cooke Maroney.

In 2014, there were rumours of trouble when it was claimed that Konecki had moved out of their London home and into his bachelor pad in Brighton.

Adele eventually responded to the reports on Twitter, writing: ‘Just wanted to wish everyone happy holidays & all the best for 2015! PS Simon & I are still very much together, don’t believe what you read x.’

However, the pair were photographed in June that year having an argument outside London celebrity hotspot Chiltern Firehouse.

Over the years, Adele gushed about her love for Konecki who she has credited with helping her recover from vocal cord surgery in 2011.

She said: ‘He’s wonderful and he’s proud of me but he doesn’t care about what I do or what other people think. He looks after me. I don’t think I would have gotten through the recovery for my surgery if it hadn’t been for him.’

She told Matt Lauer on his NBC Today show in 2015, that she had ‘never been happier’.

‘And I’ve never been healthier. So I’m good,’ she added, while promoting the chart-topping follow-up to her previous smash hit album 21.

Adele went on: ‘Being in such an amazing relationship with someone that’s so there for me and so loyal and is really part of my core now, that’s what made me write about everything I’ve ever done, because I’ve got his love.’

In 2015, Adele gave a rare interview about motherhood and said having a child had allowed her to change her pace.

She told SiriusXM host Jenny Eliscu: ‘I found it quite constant before I had him, and now he really slows the world down for me, which I appreciate,

‘And just the out-of-body experience of loving someone so much, regardless of anything.’

She continued: ‘I do have body image problems for sure, but I don’t let them rule my life at all. And there are bigger issues going on in the world than how I might feel about myself.’

The singer bravely admitted to suffering from post-natal depression after the birth of her son in an interview with Vanity Fair back in 2016.

When asked if she plans to have another baby, Adele said she didn’t think so, explaining: ‘I’m too scared. I had really bad postpartum depression after I had my son, and it frightened me… I didn’t talk to anyone about it. I was very reluctant.’   

The Rolling in the Deep singer previously told fans at a Nashville audience: ‘My son is about to turn four very, very soon.

‘I’m starting to get very emotional about it because I feel like once they turn four, they’re not really your actual baby anymore. So my womb is starting to ache a little bit. It’s like, “Baby, baby, baby. Need a baby, need a baby”. I’m not pregnant. I won’t get pregnant until the end of the tour.’  

Since her separation, Adele has revealed her dramatic 100lb weight loss during rare public outings and was said to have spent thousands on skimpy outfits. 

In October, the singer flaunted her enviable figure when she hosted Saturday Night Live, though she left the musical performances to H.E.R. because she didn’t think she could both act and sing on the episode.

Addressing the audience in the opening monologue, Adele announced: ‘I know I look really, really different since you last saw me.

‘But actually, because of all the COVID restrictions… I had to travel light and I could only bring half of me. And this is the half I chose.’

Meanwhile, it was previously claimed that the Skyfall hitmaker has ‘been pouring her heart and soul’ into her comeback album and found music ‘like therapy’ after the end of her marriage.

A source said: ‘Adele is pouring her heart and soul into this record, including how she feels post-divorce.

‘She’s been a fan of Raphael since she was a teenager and loves his back catalogue. She wants her next album to be full of soul, with a more eclectic sound.’

Although it was recently claimed that Adele’s new album reportedly won’t be about heartbreak – or her divorce from Simon. 

A source told The Sun: ‘Heartbreak has helped Adele shift records over the years but this split is quite different.  

‘They’re both aware their son Angelo should be protected and that’s why Adele has agreed not to sing about their relationship.

‘Her new album will have a different sound anyway, so it hasn’t bothered her too much that Simon quietly expected her to keep their relationship out of her music.’

Her third studio album, 25, was released in 2015, and fans have eagerly awaited new music in the five years since.

Adele was later linked to British musician Skepta, 38, real name Joseph Junior Adenuga Jr – who became a father in 2018.

As well as being linked with Adele, Skepta was reportedly dating supermodel Naomi Campbell, 49, for a few months up until April 2018.

And in October 2020, it was reported that things were ‘heating up’ between Adele and the star, one year after the musicians were first linked.

But Adele shut down the rumours she was dating the rapper as she told fans she’s a ‘(single) cat lady,’ in an Instagram caption in October. 

Alongside a photograph of herself on Saturday Night Live, the Hello songstress first praised all those involved in her successful hosting gig, before ensuring she not-so-subtly confirmed her relationship status.

She penned: ‘Had the best time on SNL! Thank you to the most wonderful cast, crew, writers and producers. What a sublime bunch of people you are.  

‘Lorne thank you for believing in me! Lindsay my sister for life, Maya my comedy and Mama hero! Plus the so up for it audiences at both the dress rehearsal and live show!

‘I did it for the joy of it and I hope you got some from it too! Good luck with the election America I love you so much. Look after each other and go easy on yourselves. Happy Halloween!

‘I’m going back to my cave now to be the (single) cat lady that I am! Peace out til next year.’

Her not-so-subtle words came a month after Adele and the Grime artist, who she is good friends with, were spotted having a wild night out in east London.

 A £140m net worth, £34.7m property portfolio and £60k-a-day in royalties: As Adele, 32, finalises her megabucks divorce from Simon Konecki, 46, what is up for grabs from her vast fortune? 

While details are unknown of the ins and outs of the divorce, we take a look at the star’s finances show the vast wealth she has amassed during her time in the spotlight – and wisely invested in property. 

From her lavish Kensington mews – an amalgamation of two homes – to her sprawling Beverly Hills pad, where she lives with their son Angelo, eight, Adele has managed to garner a £34.7m ($47.4m) property portfolio.

The pair will share custody of their son Angelo, but ‘financial, sales or other confidential business information’ regarding the proceedings will not be publicly available.  

But how has Adele spent and invested her eye-popping £140million fortune? 

PROPERTY 

Since shooting to fame, Adele has shown a keen interest in the property market and has bought and sold a number of lavish properties both in the UK and US. 

CURRENT HOMES 

2012-2013:  KENSINGTON MEWS 

£5.65million ($7m) and £5.38million ($6.6m)

Back in 2012 she bought a mews house in Kensington, for £5.65million ($7m) before purchasing the house next door for £5.38million ($6.6m) with plans to knock the two through in order to give her extra space.

The house includes a display cabinet in which her Oscar for the song Skyfall is housed, along with the sparkly Burberry dress and Louboutin silver platform pumps which she wore for her performance

2012: A HOME FOR MUM

£600,000 ($738k)

The Skyfall singer transferred ownership of her flat in trendy Notting Hill to her mother, Penny Adkins, according to publicly-available land registry records. 

2018: FIRST BEVERLY HILLS HOME 

£8.5 million ($9.5 million) 

 The London native, paid $9.5 million for a home in the luxe neighborhood. The neighborhood counts among its residents stars like Jennifer Lawrence, Katy Perry and Cameron Diaz, Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis, Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem and Nicole Kidman.

2019: SECOND BEVERLY HILLS HOME

£8.53million ($10.65million) 

Adele splashed out on this five-bedroom, six-bathroom home, which was built in the early 60s, spans 6,045 square feet and sits on nearly an acre . The includes a large office, an art studio, a crafts room, a library and a gym.

At the time, incredible images confirmed that her home is just feet away from her estranged husband Simon’s pad – with the lavish houses literally sitting opposite one another.

ROYALTIES 

Thanks to her catalogue of wildly popular music, Adele could never work a day of her life again and still be raking in handsome profits from royalties alone. 

It was revealed in May 2019, that the Someone Like You hitmaker, had splashed out $10.65million (£8.53million) for a Beverly Hills home that sits just opposite another residence she owns where Simon, 45, resides.

In 2019, Adele raked in nearly £23,000 a day despite not releasing a record or going on a tour. She made a staggering £8.6million profit last year after taxes, which works out to £23,719 a day.

According to The Sun, the she has two companies which look after her royalties and album sales. The first is Melted Stone Ltd which makes a net profit of £483,546 while Melted Stone Publishing Ltd makes £8,173,994.

The publication also reported that her balance sheets lodged at Companies House comes to nearly £41million – making her one of the richest women in entertainment. Adele’s fortune is continuing to sky-rocket, with Adele making nearly £18million from her business without stepping foot into the recording studio in the last two years.

The talented songstress – whose last album was called, 25, in 2015 – has her fortunes estimated at £65million in 2016. At the time, she was the second highest paid woman in music. 

It was also reported back in February that Adele raked in a whopping £142million profit from her 15-month world tour, which kicked off in 2016. Records revealed that the singer’s company, Remedy Touring LLP, made the hefty sum from both ticket and merchandise sales – but that Adele paid herself £42million.

According to The Sun, the hitmaker’s company made close to £70million profit during the Adele Live – with the remaining funds covering the tour’s costs.

The sums mean Adele made more than $1million per show, having performed 121 dates between February 2016 and June 2017 in Europe, North America and Oceania.

OFFERS ON THE TABLE 

Adele has been offered a slew of other big money deals in the past – but has allegedly turned them all down in favour of spending time with her family.

The star was reportedly offered £1million to sing for Arab Billionaires in the Middle East, as well as a £20million residency in Las Vegas.

A source said in 2017 that the Adele was contemplating a 12-month stint at The Wynn Hotel, with a paycheck of £382,000 ($500,000) per show, however these plans were put on hold.

© Provided by The Telegraph
COVID-19 testing site at Heathrow Airport

Divorcees whose children live abroad are being forced to pay hundreds of pounds to comply with court visitation orders, lawyers have warned.

In accordance with current government guidelines, travellers must purchase a £210 testing kit, and take their test on day two and day eight of isolation. Those who fail to do so may face penalties of up to £2,000.

The Government has an approved list of people who qualify for exemption from the payment – including the likes of aerospace engineers, BBC journalists, defence personnel, offshore oil and gas workers, elite athletes, and people who have regular work in the UK but live abroad.

However, parents whose children live abroad are unable to visit them without being subject to the fine, meaning many fear they will be unable to fulfil court visitation orders.

Family lawyers as well as parents forced to pay the £210 are now calling on the government to add separated parents to the exemption list in a bid to put an end to the “significant financial burden” of “seeing your kid”.

Henry McLoughlin, 36, works as an analyst at a renewable energy firm and lives in London but has a four-year-old daughter in Paris.

He said that he understands that the £210 kit acts as a deterrent to stop people travelling unnecessarily during lockdown. However, he added: “But it doesn’t work if you’re fulfilling your duty about seeing your kid. The deterrent shouldn’t be keeping families apart.”

During the first UK lockdown in March 2020, there were exemptions for parents dealing with custody issues, meaning that children were able to move between houses.

However, there is currently no such system in place regarding international travel, meaning that many families that live across different countries are hundreds-of-pounds out of pocket.

The extra £210 required for the travel test package, required since February 15, would add up to around £7,000 over a year. If it continues to remain in place, some divorced or separated parents fear they will be unable to meet their legal obligations.

© Provided by The Telegraph
Heathrow

In a worst case scenario, parents who are unable to carry out visitation requirements set out by judges in family courts could be found in contempt of court. Penalties for such offences range from fines to imprisonment, depending on the seriousness of the breach.

Mr McLoughlin has a custody arrangement in place where he is meant to go back and forth to Paris once a month, but the current rules mean he is subject to a “significant financial burden”.

“There’s a long list of exemptions, but they’re all work-based, like sewage treatment. Someone has really put a lot of thought into this, but unfortunately, there’s nothing for families…

“I wouldn’t expect it to become so difficult to cross a border in the twenty-first century, but here we are.”

“My even bigger concern is that the government may decide to extend the hotel quarantine, and then it’s not just a money issue, but also it would be physically impossible to live in London and have a child in Paris,” he added.

Jo Edwards, head of family and partner at Forsters LLP, said that COVID-19 and its restrictions “throw up a wide array of issues for separated parents”.

“Particular difficulties have arisen where, as is increasingly the case, separated parents live in different countries and one of them would usually be crossing borders to see their child,” she said.

“The parent who lives overseas is bound by the regulations about whether they can leave home at all in the country in which they live, as well as issues regarding quarantining on arrival.  

“An additional headache now is the need to pay for the travel test package, which can add up to a considerable sum if travel to see the child is regular.

“In certain cases it is no longer practical to travel from country to country for regular contact. Less frequent contact, for longer chunks of time, may be more suitable – provided the parents can agree to that.  

“The hope is that as lockdown restrictions begin to ease and the vaccinations rollout continues to gather pace, these issues will slowly dissipate.  

“In the meantime a combination of less frequent travel, and more contact via Zoom, may be suboptimal for the child but, like so much at the moment, the best that parents can do in the circumstances.”

A Department for Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Every essential check that has been introduced – from testing to the Passenger Locator Form – is helping prevent the new coronavirus variants making it into the UK.

“We recognise this is a challenging time for many people, but it is vital we continue to do everything we can to protect the progress we have made at home, offering lifesaving vaccines to over 20.9 million people.

“We keep all exemptions under review and full details of available exemptions are published on GOV.UK.”

Sign up to the Front Page newsletter for free: Your essential guide to the day’s agenda from The Telegraph – direct to your inbox seven days a week.

Adele and Simon Konecki have reportedly finalised their divorce, nearly two years are they separated.

The 32-year-old singer and the charity CEO, 46, are now “officially divorced” according to US Weekly who have reported that a judge signed off the settlement on Thursday.

It has reported that mediators were forced to split the £140 million fortune that the couple had amassed.

The US media site claims that Adele and Simon submitted a “judgement package” in February which stated that they “opted to determine rights to community property and debts through mediation”.

© Daily Star
Adele

While Adele and Simon are said to have “represented themselves” in the case, the singer reportedly sought professional help to manage the terms of their divorce.

The Sun has reported that while the split was thought to be amicable, mediators were used to agree certain parts of the divorce settlement.

The couple had a £34.7 million property portfolio among their £140 million fortune, which had been mostly made on the back of Adele’s hugely successful career, and the carving up of their assets and money needed careful management.

They had already agreed to have joint custody of their eight-year-old son Angelo.

A source told the publication: “They made it very clear they didn’t want to set ­lawyers on each other but the process hasn’t been exactly straightforward all the same.

“The priority was making sure they did right by their son, Angelo.

“The first thing they agreed on was sharing custody, and since then it has been about dividing up the rest of their marital finances fairly.”

© Getty Images for NARAS
Adele

The source added: “Fortunately they have ­managed to get there without an explosive public court case, slanging matches or scandalous claims about each other, and that gives them the best ­possible chance of ­staying on good terms in the future.”

Us Weekly had previously reported that Adele and Simon filed the terms of their divorce settlement with the court on January 15.

While Adele was earning £73,000-a-day from royalties, there wasn’t any suggestion that finances would be an issue in the divorce and that mediators were used to facilitate the terms rather than any dispute between the couple.

Do you have a story to sell? Get in touch with us at webcelebs@trinitymirror.com or call us direct 0207 29 33033.