Oscar winner Hilary Swank is to divorce her husband, actor Chad Lowe, their lawyer has confirmed.

Swank, 31, who has won best actress Oscars for Boys Don't Cry and Million Dollar Baby separated from Lowe, 38, in January after eight years of marriage.

At the time, the couple said they were "hopeful" they would reunite.

"They continue to be friends and have the utmost respect for one another," the couple's attorney Jeffrey A Bernstein said. He did not give any further details on why the couple was divorcing.

Swank famously forgot to thank Lowe when she won her Oscar for Boys Don't Cry in 2000, but remembered to thank him when she won again four years later.

She will next star in Brian De Palma's adaptation of James Ellroy's The Black Dahlia.

Lowe - the brother of actor Rob - has had roles in more than 30 television films and several motion pictures since making his big-screen debut in 1984 with a small role in his brother's film Oxford Blues. He won an Emmy in 1993 for his portrayal of an Aids sufferer in a TV series, Life Goes On.