After 14 years of marriage, singer Shania Twain and her music producer husband Robert John “Mutt” Lange are separating. A spokesperson for the couple has confirmed the split. They have one child, a six year old son named Eja. Twain and Lange were married in December 1993, six months after they first met. Unlike many celebrity couples, they have successfully stayed out of the media spotlight.

In 2000, the couple left North America behind and set up their permanent household in Switzerland. The couple also reportedly has homes in New York and in New Zealand. It is unclear where exactly the divorce will occur. If the Swiss divorce courts hear the case, Twain and Lange will either have to agree to the divorce and all custody, support and property issues or they may have to wait for two years before the divorce is granted.

Switzerland allows no-fault divorces but requires the two year waiting period during which time the couple must live apart. The waiting period can be waived if the filing spouse can prove in court that the marriage is irretrievably broken. In New Zealand, there is a similar two year waiting period – but it cannot be shortened for any reason, even by agreement of the divorcing spouses.

The waiting period in New York would be a little shorter. New York allows no-fault divorces only where the parties have lived separately for at least one year. At-fault grounds include adultery, cruelty, abandonment for more than a year or imprisonment of one of the parties for more than three years.

Twain, an award-winning and best-selling singer, is originally from Canada; Lange was born and raised in Rhodesia (now Zambia) and South Africa but lived most of his adult life in England. Lange has produced records for AC/DC, Def Leppard, Foreigner, Bryan Adams and Loverboy as well as for Twain. He is famously private – he hasn’t given an interview in years – and the couple’s representative has indicated that there will be no additional statements regarding the split.