On December 14, 2007 actress/model Pamela Anderson filed for divorce from Rick Salomon in Los Angeles Superior Court after only two months of marriage.

Anderson and Salomon married on October 6, 2007, in Las Vegas. But because Anderson and Salomon are residents of Los Angeles, Anderson was required to file for divorce in Los Angeles. Many people assume that a person must file for divorce in the state they were married, however, the law requires that a petition for dissolution (the form filed for divorce) be filed in the state and county in which one or both parties have resided for at least six months.

Shortly after Anderson filed for divorce she withdrew her petition which stopped the divorce process from continuing. A party who files a petition for dissolution may withdraw the petition, or “stop” the divorce, at any time before the final judgment has been entered. The final judgment is entered when the final agreement between the parties (regarding the division of property) has been filed and processed with the court. Then once a judgment is submitted to the court it generally takes the court about 6 months to enter it.

So, because Anderson decided to reconcile with Salomon (she says “We are working things out…”), it was necessary for her to withdraw, or cancel, the petition for dissolution she filed in order to prevent the divorce process from continuing. In the case that Anderson and Salomon are unable to “work things out,” Anderson will have to re-file a petition for dissolution.

According to reports, Hulk Hogan’s wife Linda, filed for divorce in mid November. Apparently Hogan (whose legal name is Terry Gene Bollea) learned that Linda filed a petition for dissolution when he received a call from a reporter. The parties have been married for 24 years and have two children together, Brooke and Nick. Hulk Hogan is a former professional wrestler and the Hogan family has a popular reality show on MTV called “Hogan Knows Best.”

Nick is facing felony charges for reckless driving from an auto accident which left his passenger with severe brain damage. Some speculate that the strain on the family caused by Nick’s accident may have contributed to the parties’ divorce. However, an episode of Hogan Knows Best shows the parties attending marriage counseling, indicating that there was a rift between the couple well before the accident.

Terry and Linda were married in Los Angeles, California, but Linda filed for divorce in Florida. Legally, a party must meet a state’s residency requirements in order to file for divorce in that state. Since Linda and Hogan having been living in Florida they did not meet the residency requirements of California which requires that at least one party live in California for at least six months “immediately prior to the filing of the petition.” (see: California Petition for Dissolution, Form FL-100)

The parties only have one child under the age of eighteen, Nick. In her petition for dissolution Linda requested primary physical custody of Nick, which means that Nick would reside with Linda the majority of time and have visitation with Hogan. Since Nick is seventeen years old, the court will probably let him decide who he wants to live with the majority of time. The courts recognize that a minor of this age is able to decide which parent they want to live with. The courts also recognize that it would be extremely difficult to force a seventeen year old to reside with a parent he or she does nor want to live with.