There’s a thin line between love and hate, and nowhere does that seem more obvious than when a marriage falls apart. Once a couple decides to divorce, years of love can suddenly give way to resentment, and sometimes the person you once wanted to spend your life with becomes the person you’re determined to hurt the most.
One Redditor asked divorce lawyers to share the most evil things they’ve witnessed on the job, and the stories got dark pretty quickly. From calculated acts of revenge to attempts to take every last cent from an ex, these cases show just how ugly divorce can become. Read some of the wildest stories below.
#41
Father was not allowed to see his kids due to domestic violence.
Kid (like 4/5 years old) wanted his favourite teddy back from dad who refused because ‘he bought it’.
Kid (like 4/5 years old) wanted his favourite teddy back from dad who refused because ‘he bought it’.
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7points
#42
Not a divorce lawyer but my husband’s dad divorced my MIL when my husband was diagnosed with cancer as a child. She told me she went to one of his chemo appointments and when she returned home there was a brown envelope pushed through the letter box and it was divorce papers.
Especially considering he never once made an effort to come and see his so while he was in hospital. My MIL was a new immigrant to the country, didn’t know English, didn’t have family here etc. whatever differences me and her have, I think what he did to her was pretty cruel. He’s not someone I allow around my child unsupervised. I don’t trust him one bit.
Especially considering he never once made an effort to come and see his so while he was in hospital. My MIL was a new immigrant to the country, didn’t know English, didn’t have family here etc. whatever differences me and her have, I think what he did to her was pretty cruel. He’s not someone I allow around my child unsupervised. I don’t trust him one bit.
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7points
#43
Somebody actually went as far as planting some fake text messages on an old cellphone, putting it in the car of his wife and then calling the police on what was clearly a made-up story about domestic violence. the amount of effort that people put into breaking the law to have an advantage in a custody battle is ridiculous.
6points
#44
INAL but I work in mental health and used to work at a psych hospital and it was not uncommon for STB ex spouses filing petitions to get their ex involuntarily committed on false pretenses.
Now I work outpatient and thankfully my clinic has a hard policy about accepting clients who are involved in contentious custody battles because it can get so ugly and manipulative.
Now I work outpatient and thankfully my clinic has a hard policy about accepting clients who are involved in contentious custody battles because it can get so ugly and manipulative.
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6points
#45
Not a lawyer but my former accountant told me about a billionaire who kept every single one of his valuable assets inside different LLCs. One for each car, one for the house, etc. It made it wildly impractical to sue for alimony against any of those assets and the billionaire himself owned nothing.
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6points
#46
Not a lawyer, but a court reporter. A client intentionally stayed in a miserable marriage for 3 whole years, quietly taking low-paying part-time jobs and hoarding cash under a family member's name, just so they could file when their spouse turned 65—ruining their retirement plan, taking half the pensions, and forcing them back into the workforce.
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6points
#47
There's a picture that shows up frequently on reddit about a couple sorting out beanie babies on the court room floor.
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6points
#48
My ex kept all of my photo albums from my childhood. I should have known better because he did this to his previous wife as well.
Edited, was supposed to say previous not pervious. Lol!
Edited, was supposed to say previous not pervious. Lol!
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5points
#49
This guy gets absolutely trashed in the divorce. She was an executive and he was a failed actor who ended up as a stay at home dad taking care of the kids. Somehow she keeps the house, the bank account, doesn't pay alimony, *and* keeps custody of the kids. The judge even gives him a harsh speech about financial responsibility and how he'll have to get a job if he ever wants to see his kids again. Truly heartwrenching stuff.
Anyways, like a week after the separation she figures out that raising three kids with a full time job is hard, so she decides to hire a full time nanny to take care of them. He finds out about this and something just breaks in his head; he fought for custody pretty hard and got denied after all. He goes crazy, and not normal crazy, *actor crazy*. He gets some of his old makeup artist friends to help him disguise himself as a woman, applies for the nannying job, *and gets it.* He actually kept up that up for a few months, nannying his own kids and by all accounts being a great parent while doing so.
Anyways, like a week after the separation she figures out that raising three kids with a full time job is hard, so she decides to hire a full time nanny to take care of them. He finds out about this and something just breaks in his head; he fought for custody pretty hard and got denied after all. He goes crazy, and not normal crazy, *actor crazy*. He gets some of his old makeup artist friends to help him disguise himself as a woman, applies for the nannying job, *and gets it.* He actually kept up that up for a few months, nannying his own kids and by all accounts being a great parent while doing so.
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1point