August 19, 2009: The thin red line between marriage and divorce

Sean Penn and Robin Wright-Penn getting divorced -- yet again.

by Jeffrey Cottrill

Actor Sean Penn is now a three-timer. No, we don't mean that he's won his third Oscar. He's in line for his third trip to divorce court -- with the same wife.

This time, it's Robin Wright-Penn's turn to initiate the proceedings. The Milk star's wife of 13 years filed the divorce papers, citing irreconcilable differences, on August 12 in Marin County, California. According to People, the Penns have agreed to share custody of Hopper Jack, their 16-year-old son.

The couple also has an 18-year-old daughter, Dylan Frances.

More information on child custody: Prepare for a Child Custody Trial Joint or Sole Child Custody? Helping Your Child Custody Case Visitation and the Inflexible Ex Is a Child Custody Battle Best?

"The estranged couple have already agreed to division of all property," the divorce papers read, as quoted in People. Wright-Penn, 43, is not pursuing spousal support.

Wright-Penn recently told More magazine that she has no intentions of reconciling the marriage this time. "I hit that crossroad a while ago," she says in the new September issue. "For [me], the 'I know what I don't want' was flashing neon lights... I have no regrets. I, we, have two amazing children we raised together."

The Penns met in 1989 and married in 1996. Wright-Penn's first divorce filing was in December 2007, but the couple reconciled the following April. Penn, who turned 49 on Monday, filed for divorce last April, then withdrew the papers less than a month later, calling the filing "an arrogant mistake" in the New York Daily News.

Sean Penn, who had an even rockier marriage to Madonna during the 1980s, will next appear in Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life. His past films include Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Dead Man Walking, Sweet and Lowdown, Mystic River, and 21 Grams.

Robin Wright-Penn, also an actor, has received acclaim for her performances in The Princess Bride and Forrest Gump. She has two upcoming movies this year, The Private Lives of Pippa Lee and a 3D animated version of A Christmas Carol.

• Using Special Masters to Resolve Post-Divorce Conflicts
• Knowing If You Should Stay or Go
• Top Ten Things To Know When Contemplating Divorce

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