Madonna and Ritchie Divorce

Madonna and her director husand of nearly eight years have filed for divorce, they said in a joint statement Wednesday.

In the statement that was e-mailed to the Associated Press, Wednesday, by Madonna's publicist, Liz Rosenberg, the pair asked for the media to "maintain respect for their family at this difficult time."

A financial allocation between Ritchie and the pop star has been agreed upon, but the biggest and most important battle, custody of their children, must still be decided in court.

Madonna and Ritchie, who has directed several well-regarded, highly entertaining films including Snatch and Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, were married in December of 2000 in a Scottish castle. They have two children together - Rocco, 8, and David Banda, 3, who they adopted amidst a great deal of controversy from Malawi in 2006.

Madonna has a 12-year-old daughter from a previous relationship with her former trainer, Carlos Leon.