Minutes after actress Gwyneth Paltrow and musician husband Chris Martin jointly announced their separation on the Academy Awardee' GOOP website, experts are weighing in on what 'conscious uncoupling' means.
Her statement on GOOP read, "We have always conducted our relationship privately, and we hope that as we consciously uncouple and coparent, we will be able to continue in the same manner."
The Times of India said in a report that Paltrow's relabeling of her separation with the Coldplay frontman was an attempt to be different from all the celebrity divorces in Hollywood. Citing psychologist Seema Hingorrany, couples on a divorce go through a lot of mental and physical health issues due to post-traumatic stress.
Clinical psychologist Varkha Chulani also chimed in and told the Indian online paper, "I think this could well be the new trend-setter. It's where you seek the ability to move away from each other positively; there is no negativity or thoughts of revenge etc, involved. Uncoupling also has an easy, more balanced connotation than divorce. It's like unfriending on a social network, where I'm not deleting you, just unfriending you. It's time more people did this."
Conscious uncoupling seemed to be a good mindset for married couples opting to break up, considering the fact that there is the issue of handling financial matters and children custody. Although Paltrow has addressed in the statement that the two will be co-parenting their two kids, the size of their wealth as a couple could present some challenges.
Slate said that it is not known whether the former couple had a prenuptial agreement prior to getting married. However, California law rules that all property, finances and other assets will be divided equally between the two in the event of a divorce. Forbes have recently listed the two as among the hundred highest-earning celebrities in the world as of June 2013, with Paltrow at $10 million and Martin's band at $64 million. L.A. bureau chief Dorothy Pomerantz of Forbes had disclosed to E! News that Martin definitely earned more than Paltrow, considering the revenues his band has been making from touring. Paltrow's biggest earnings for 2013 might have came from the "Iron Man" franchise, of which Pomerantz said that the actress might have enjoyed a sizeable chunk from her participation in all three films.
