Nothing combines high economic stakes and emotional turmoil quite like a divorce. After all, it’s like needing to negotiate a lease with your ex right after a messy breakup. So the professionals who have to help both parties tread these waters generally have seen it all.
So we’ve gathered some of the messiest and most dramatic divorce cases lawyers have seen and shared online. Get comfortable as you scroll through, prepare for some secondhand pain, upvote your favorites and be sure to share your own thoughts and stories in the comments section down below.
#1
I'm a child who dealt with parents getting divorced. When I was 7, I was forced to go to therapists to play 'games' with them (my mother was trying to get custody and insisted it). It was a board game. It seemed innocent enough. I roll the dice, and the therapist picks up a card from his deck, and asks me a question. When he rolled, I picked a card and asked him a question.
My questions were simple for a 7 year old. 'What's your favorite colour.' and whatnot.
His questions were smart/tricky. 'How do you feel when mommy does this.' and 'What do you think of daddy when this happens.'
So I sat there for an hour, 7 years old, playing this game. At the end, we left the room and met with my parents and he said I would do better living with my mother. I specifically remember looking at the man and saying 'but I don't want to just live with mom. I want to live with dad too. Like I'm doing now.' (1 week at moms, 1 week at dads)
I'll never forget the way that the therapist basically ignored me, and said that 'the game/discussions showed that I'm happier with my mom.' The look on my fathers face was heartbreaking and he started to tear up.
I remember as we were walking out of the place my parents stopped in the parking lot to discuss things, and I stood there waiting for them to finish arguing. I remember getting so frustrated because they were talking about me, in front of me. I stopped them and said:
'Why didn't you just ASK me what I wanted?' My mother looked quite stunned, and my dad seemed so relieved. I wound up doing 1 week at moms and 1 week at dads until I was 17 and went into college. Monday's I got on the bus at one house, and off the bus at the other.
Parents, don't be dumb. Just ask your kid. We might actually have something to say.
My questions were simple for a 7 year old. 'What's your favorite colour.' and whatnot.
His questions were smart/tricky. 'How do you feel when mommy does this.' and 'What do you think of daddy when this happens.'
So I sat there for an hour, 7 years old, playing this game. At the end, we left the room and met with my parents and he said I would do better living with my mother. I specifically remember looking at the man and saying 'but I don't want to just live with mom. I want to live with dad too. Like I'm doing now.' (1 week at moms, 1 week at dads)
I'll never forget the way that the therapist basically ignored me, and said that 'the game/discussions showed that I'm happier with my mom.' The look on my fathers face was heartbreaking and he started to tear up.
I remember as we were walking out of the place my parents stopped in the parking lot to discuss things, and I stood there waiting for them to finish arguing. I remember getting so frustrated because they were talking about me, in front of me. I stopped them and said:
'Why didn't you just ASK me what I wanted?' My mother looked quite stunned, and my dad seemed so relieved. I wound up doing 1 week at moms and 1 week at dads until I was 17 and went into college. Monday's I got on the bus at one house, and off the bus at the other.
Parents, don't be dumb. Just ask your kid. We might actually have something to say.
Report
81points
#2
IANAL, but I have worked for a lawyer who worked divorces. This was his favorite case.
Guy was making $150K a year, gets a Thai mail order bride, has 3 kids. Dude has an affair, and now decides that he doesn't want a FOB wife and mixed race kids and initiates a divorce. The woman's only priority is to have custody of the kids, so against her attorney's advice, she's willing to take a deal where she takes a car and gets $1200 in child support, no spousal support, and $3000 lump sum from their joint account so she can rent an apartment. (There's ZERO chance that he actually wants custody of the children because he's already shacked up with the girl he's having an affair with)
She wanted full custody so bad that she was willing to live with 3 kids in a modest 2bd apartment and pull the kids out of expensive extra curricular activities they were doing to economize, as well as getting a crappy survival type o job after being nothing but a housewife since coming to US. (One of the kids has some talent in an olympics event, to the level where she was getting professional coaching lessons)
The husband takes it to the front of the judge against the advice of his own attorney, who tells him that he's nuts to turn this down, because he doesn't want to give her $3K, and figures that the judge will decide between what she wants and what he wants, not realizing that there's a formula based on income judges use to determine child support payments.
At the court, the judge awards the wife the $3K lump sum and $1700 child support...FOR EACH KID. So because he didn't want to give his ex wife $3K so his kids could have a place to live, about 50% of his take home pay is going to his ex for the next 10+ years.
The attorney I worked with was a jerk about money who never did anything for free but this was the one case where he represented the woman for just a nominal fee because he had a taste for justice.
Guy was making $150K a year, gets a Thai mail order bride, has 3 kids. Dude has an affair, and now decides that he doesn't want a FOB wife and mixed race kids and initiates a divorce. The woman's only priority is to have custody of the kids, so against her attorney's advice, she's willing to take a deal where she takes a car and gets $1200 in child support, no spousal support, and $3000 lump sum from their joint account so she can rent an apartment. (There's ZERO chance that he actually wants custody of the children because he's already shacked up with the girl he's having an affair with)
She wanted full custody so bad that she was willing to live with 3 kids in a modest 2bd apartment and pull the kids out of expensive extra curricular activities they were doing to economize, as well as getting a crappy survival type o job after being nothing but a housewife since coming to US. (One of the kids has some talent in an olympics event, to the level where she was getting professional coaching lessons)
The husband takes it to the front of the judge against the advice of his own attorney, who tells him that he's nuts to turn this down, because he doesn't want to give her $3K, and figures that the judge will decide between what she wants and what he wants, not realizing that there's a formula based on income judges use to determine child support payments.
At the court, the judge awards the wife the $3K lump sum and $1700 child support...FOR EACH KID. So because he didn't want to give his ex wife $3K so his kids could have a place to live, about 50% of his take home pay is going to his ex for the next 10+ years.
The attorney I worked with was a jerk about money who never did anything for free but this was the one case where he represented the woman for just a nominal fee because he had a taste for justice.
Report
57points
#3
Not a divorce lawyer, or a lawyer, or a divorcee, or married, or engaged, or have a girlfriend, but I saw a squirrel on my way to class yesterday.
56points
#4
When I got divorced -- my alcoholic wife of 18 years had started another affair, this time with her addictions counselor -- my lawyer and I laid a trap for them. Just in case you don't know, intimate relations between a counselor and patient are very frowned upon by the regulatory bodies. And I was more than pissed after putting her through rehab ($25k which I didn't have to do) only to have her fall back into her old behavior.
Shortly before the divorce was finalized I filed a complaint with the State body licensing health professions. Knowing they were in some peril because of their unprofessional relationship ( I had already gotten him fired), she had backed off her exhorbitant demands. I paid her a very modest settlement, kept the house, got custody of the three tweenage kids, plus got child support. Her lawyer naturally included a clause in the divorce where I had to agree to not say anything negative about her lover and their relationship. But the lawyer messed up and never asked if I had already filed charges and thus didn't didn't require me to rescind them. The lawyer had assumed I was just bad mouthing them to neighbors and friends, and it never occurred to the lawyer that we were doing much more.
When the Board of Health Professions responded to my complaint shortly after the divorce was finalized I told them that it would take a subpoena to get me to testify (a subpoena trumps a divorce settlement). They were happy to oblige.
They stripped his license, and placed him on a register of sanctioned health professionals. He never worked again. They were broke in a handful of years and she divorced him when the money ran out (in the interim his mother had died leaving fair sized estate, so it took longer than I expected). Oh, and the frosting on the cake was that his wife and I traded notes (notably hotel receipts from the time of their affair) that helped each of us in our respective divorces.
Justice was served.
Shortly before the divorce was finalized I filed a complaint with the State body licensing health professions. Knowing they were in some peril because of their unprofessional relationship ( I had already gotten him fired), she had backed off her exhorbitant demands. I paid her a very modest settlement, kept the house, got custody of the three tweenage kids, plus got child support. Her lawyer naturally included a clause in the divorce where I had to agree to not say anything negative about her lover and their relationship. But the lawyer messed up and never asked if I had already filed charges and thus didn't didn't require me to rescind them. The lawyer had assumed I was just bad mouthing them to neighbors and friends, and it never occurred to the lawyer that we were doing much more.
When the Board of Health Professions responded to my complaint shortly after the divorce was finalized I told them that it would take a subpoena to get me to testify (a subpoena trumps a divorce settlement). They were happy to oblige.
They stripped his license, and placed him on a register of sanctioned health professionals. He never worked again. They were broke in a handful of years and she divorced him when the money ran out (in the interim his mother had died leaving fair sized estate, so it took longer than I expected). Oh, and the frosting on the cake was that his wife and I traded notes (notably hotel receipts from the time of their affair) that helped each of us in our respective divorces.
Justice was served.
45points
#5
Not a lawyer but...
Husband has a very nice job. Company exec, 6 figures type of job. Wife is upset that her lifestyle will have to change after they get a divorce. Her lawyer sets up a settlement where the wife is entitled to 25% of the husbands income. Kicker is that the lawyer did not specify which job or any specific amount, just a percentage. Husband knew he had enough in savings and assets that his income wouldn’t be a huge deal. So now he happily works minimum wage at sports goods store and she gets a fourth of that
Husband has a very nice job. Company exec, 6 figures type of job. Wife is upset that her lifestyle will have to change after they get a divorce. Her lawyer sets up a settlement where the wife is entitled to 25% of the husbands income. Kicker is that the lawyer did not specify which job or any specific amount, just a percentage. Husband knew he had enough in savings and assets that his income wouldn’t be a huge deal. So now he happily works minimum wage at sports goods store and she gets a fourth of that
34points
#6
Obligatory: Not a lawyer but:
I used to work for the security company. The big one.
I had a customer call in and request to have her current deactivation code set as her panic code.
A panic code gives the appearence of deactivating the system, but sends a super high priority alarm signal to the monitoring company. This feature exists in case someone puts a gun to your head and demands that you disarm your system.
So, if he husband did come by while she was away (violating a court order by my understanding) the cops were gonna show up REAL fast.
I used to work for the security company. The big one.
I had a customer call in and request to have her current deactivation code set as her panic code.
A panic code gives the appearence of deactivating the system, but sends a super high priority alarm signal to the monitoring company. This feature exists in case someone puts a gun to your head and demands that you disarm your system.
So, if he husband did come by while she was away (violating a court order by my understanding) the cops were gonna show up REAL fast.
34points
#7
I'm a lawyer but not a divorce lawyer.
My sister in law is mid-divorcing my brother after 30+ years of marriage. She's met someone else, so far so normal. It happens, right?
The thing that's destroyed him is her emptying their son's savings account which my parents (very far from well off) have paid into once a month for years. That's his uni fund wiped out. I don't know about messing over your spouse but it's the one betrayal my brother can't come to terms with.
Edit to answer a few questions: so my parents had set up an ordinary child savings account with my sister in law as sole trustee. They absolutely trusted her but unfortunately this gave her complete control over the funds in the account.
Legally there's not much we could do. She claims she thought it was "spending money" for my nephew for items of clothing, days out etc. Bollocks to that. My parents already spend a fortune on that kind of stuff, and she's clearly spent it all on her new relationship with the unemployed guy who also left his wife and three kids for her.
My parents have always had savings accounts for ALL their grandchildren, including my own children, and we ALL knew the money was for the kids to pay uni fees or put towards a deposit on a home or similar. So while she's morally disgusting I think legally my parents are screwed.
One glimmer. She didn't get what she wanted financially in the divorce settlement because my brother's solicitor asked for a provision in the order relating to her repaying the money taken from the account. Faced with having to explain to a judge why there was a dispute over it, she backed down on some other stuff. So my nephew has a new account which my parents have started paying into, and me and my husband are doing what we can too. Meanwhile her life is circling the drain in all sorts of other ways which I personally couldn't give a darn about except to the extent that my poor nephew is trapped in the middle of it.
Sorry for those of you who've been through similar. It's disgusting.
My sister in law is mid-divorcing my brother after 30+ years of marriage. She's met someone else, so far so normal. It happens, right?
The thing that's destroyed him is her emptying their son's savings account which my parents (very far from well off) have paid into once a month for years. That's his uni fund wiped out. I don't know about messing over your spouse but it's the one betrayal my brother can't come to terms with.
Edit to answer a few questions: so my parents had set up an ordinary child savings account with my sister in law as sole trustee. They absolutely trusted her but unfortunately this gave her complete control over the funds in the account.
Legally there's not much we could do. She claims she thought it was "spending money" for my nephew for items of clothing, days out etc. Bollocks to that. My parents already spend a fortune on that kind of stuff, and she's clearly spent it all on her new relationship with the unemployed guy who also left his wife and three kids for her.
My parents have always had savings accounts for ALL their grandchildren, including my own children, and we ALL knew the money was for the kids to pay uni fees or put towards a deposit on a home or similar. So while she's morally disgusting I think legally my parents are screwed.
One glimmer. She didn't get what she wanted financially in the divorce settlement because my brother's solicitor asked for a provision in the order relating to her repaying the money taken from the account. Faced with having to explain to a judge why there was a dispute over it, she backed down on some other stuff. So my nephew has a new account which my parents have started paying into, and me and my husband are doing what we can too. Meanwhile her life is circling the drain in all sorts of other ways which I personally couldn't give a darn about except to the extent that my poor nephew is trapped in the middle of it.
Sorry for those of you who've been through similar. It's disgusting.
34points
#8
Not a lawyer but this is the history of my house and property.
The house used to be owned by a very successful business man. The property is gorgeous. It overlooks a river and marsh, backed up by thousands of acres of forest and untouched beauty in Wisconsin. Back about 20 years ago the wife and husband got into a bitter divorce. The wife loved the property. It’s beautiful, she loved the river and birds and all the nature around it. So what did the husband do? He (as the owner of the property) deeded it all to nature preserve and the state. Something like 5000 acres of new public land were created. We the people won, but she lost big time. My house is the only one on the river in that area but there is now tons of public access points and we all enjoy sharing the land with our community.
The house used to be owned by a very successful business man. The property is gorgeous. It overlooks a river and marsh, backed up by thousands of acres of forest and untouched beauty in Wisconsin. Back about 20 years ago the wife and husband got into a bitter divorce. The wife loved the property. It’s beautiful, she loved the river and birds and all the nature around it. So what did the husband do? He (as the owner of the property) deeded it all to nature preserve and the state. Something like 5000 acres of new public land were created. We the people won, but she lost big time. My house is the only one on the river in that area but there is now tons of public access points and we all enjoy sharing the land with our community.
Report
32points
#9
A wife negotiated like a bee-yatch possessed for custody of the couple's dog, which the husband (my client) adored. We negotiated the husband's visitation rights for the life of the dog. So she had a vet put the dog down a week after the divorce was final.
Report
31points
#10
Not a divorce attorney but I clerked for a judge that handled divorce cases. We had a couple that were both lieutenant colonels in the Air Force. They had one daughter that was about 11 or 12. Both had graduate degrees and were generally intelligent people. Well the husband had an affair and things went sour with the relationship. The daughter was at that age when her relationship with the mother was starting to get a little strained and she mentioned how she wanted to stick with her dad because he was about to be stationed elsewhere and the parents would be going their separate ways.
The mother absolutely freaked. The first thing she did was go to the local police department and claim the father had been inappropriate with the daughter. They investigated and couldn't find any evidence so they dropped the case. The mother still furious then goes to the Air Force Office of Special Investigations and reports the same thing. The Air Force then suspends the husband from duty and conducts their own investigation, same result no evidence of wrong doing and the case is dropped. The mother then goes to the next state over where the husband is about to be transferred and contacts the local police there with the same story about the inappropriate behavior. They of course do their own investigation but same result, case is dropped.
Of course this whole time the daughter has been interviewed a dozen times by psychologists, various therapists, the police, the Air Force, and who knows else. The daughter is straight up traumatized by this. People constantly asking her if her dad had been touching her and so forth. Not to mention the harm it did to her father's career. He was basically screwed from any possible promotion just because of the allegations. As well as the fact that infidelity in the military is a big no no. But that was his own doing.
Well once word of all this gets back to the judge he is furious. He's a former Air Force Jag and still has contacts in the ranks. Well anyway the couple comes in front of him one day for a hearing and he outright tells her she better stop this behavior or he's going to hold her in contempt of court for the maximum amount of time he can lawfully hold her in a cell, contact the DA and recommend the filing of charges, contact her Air Force superiors and recommend reprimand to the fullest extent possible, and basically anything and everything he can do within his power.
It was one of the most messed up things I've seen during my relatively short experience in the legal world.
Edit: For those of you freaking out because she received no consequences: She lost any hope for a relationship with her daughter, possibly for the rest of her life. Her Air Force career was over. And last I heard the DA's office was looking into possible charges. I don't know what happened with that because I left soon after all of this happened. The judge in this situation didn't have much authority outside the divorce itself. He can make recommendations and suggestions to the DA and Air Force, but has no power to bring charges. The most he can do is put her in contempt of court.
The mother absolutely freaked. The first thing she did was go to the local police department and claim the father had been inappropriate with the daughter. They investigated and couldn't find any evidence so they dropped the case. The mother still furious then goes to the Air Force Office of Special Investigations and reports the same thing. The Air Force then suspends the husband from duty and conducts their own investigation, same result no evidence of wrong doing and the case is dropped. The mother then goes to the next state over where the husband is about to be transferred and contacts the local police there with the same story about the inappropriate behavior. They of course do their own investigation but same result, case is dropped.
Of course this whole time the daughter has been interviewed a dozen times by psychologists, various therapists, the police, the Air Force, and who knows else. The daughter is straight up traumatized by this. People constantly asking her if her dad had been touching her and so forth. Not to mention the harm it did to her father's career. He was basically screwed from any possible promotion just because of the allegations. As well as the fact that infidelity in the military is a big no no. But that was his own doing.
Well once word of all this gets back to the judge he is furious. He's a former Air Force Jag and still has contacts in the ranks. Well anyway the couple comes in front of him one day for a hearing and he outright tells her she better stop this behavior or he's going to hold her in contempt of court for the maximum amount of time he can lawfully hold her in a cell, contact the DA and recommend the filing of charges, contact her Air Force superiors and recommend reprimand to the fullest extent possible, and basically anything and everything he can do within his power.
It was one of the most messed up things I've seen during my relatively short experience in the legal world.
Edit: For those of you freaking out because she received no consequences: She lost any hope for a relationship with her daughter, possibly for the rest of her life. Her Air Force career was over. And last I heard the DA's office was looking into possible charges. I don't know what happened with that because I left soon after all of this happened. The judge in this situation didn't have much authority outside the divorce itself. He can make recommendations and suggestions to the DA and Air Force, but has no power to bring charges. The most he can do is put her in contempt of court.
Report
26points
#11
Not a lawyer, but get to deal with the outcome all the time.
Client and her ex husband owned a successful renovation company. Marital issues happen, they decide to divorce. Look at money that is in the banks, value of the company based on it's past, value of the house... Make an agreement that she gets the company and house, he walks away with the ready cash. He takes off for a sunny place to start his life agian
Turns out husband had been planning to leave her for a while. He stopped paying the vendors and the payroll taxes, which is where the money in the bank accounts originally came from. Company has been existing on credit for over 6 months while he emptied the bank accounts. Employee's paychecks start bouncing within weeks of him leaving so they quit. Jobs are not getting finished so customers demand refunds. Within 12 months she is looking for someone to buy the home in a short sale just to get enough cash to close out the payroll accounts before declaring bankruptcy.
Client and her ex husband owned a successful renovation company. Marital issues happen, they decide to divorce. Look at money that is in the banks, value of the company based on it's past, value of the house... Make an agreement that she gets the company and house, he walks away with the ready cash. He takes off for a sunny place to start his life agian
Turns out husband had been planning to leave her for a while. He stopped paying the vendors and the payroll taxes, which is where the money in the bank accounts originally came from. Company has been existing on credit for over 6 months while he emptied the bank accounts. Employee's paychecks start bouncing within weeks of him leaving so they quit. Jobs are not getting finished so customers demand refunds. Within 12 months she is looking for someone to buy the home in a short sale just to get enough cash to close out the payroll accounts before declaring bankruptcy.
24points
#12
My mom showed up to the final meeting for my parents divorce and her last request was to “trade cars”. My dad had a car about a year newer, she had never driven it and my dad drove 30 miles for work while she drove 3. It was such an odd request, especially since he had given up on most of it. Her lawyer acted off during the conversation and my dad’s lawyer said hell no. A few days later my dad gets home to a message from his lawyer, he found out that mom’s car had died, needed a new transmission and she failed to mention that when she offered up the trade.
Not the worst, but really shady.
Not the worst, but really shady.
Report
23points
#13
Not a divorce lawyer, but this happened in NYC a number of years ago, and is just too sweet not to include here.
Some dentist or doctor on the Upper East Side and his wife were having a nasty divorce, and she got their gorgeous Upper East Side brownstone, worth several million dollars, which pissed him off royally. So the jerk went into the brownstone, turned on all the gas, let place fill with gas and blew it up, totally destroying the building and ending himself in the process.
Turned out the joke was on him, because the now empty lot was worth a ton of more money than the house was– how often is a buyer going to get a prime building lot for a new house on the Upper East Side of Manhattan?! The lot was worth about double what the house was IIRC, and the wife got it all.
Some dentist or doctor on the Upper East Side and his wife were having a nasty divorce, and she got their gorgeous Upper East Side brownstone, worth several million dollars, which pissed him off royally. So the jerk went into the brownstone, turned on all the gas, let place fill with gas and blew it up, totally destroying the building and ending himself in the process.
Turned out the joke was on him, because the now empty lot was worth a ton of more money than the house was– how often is a buyer going to get a prime building lot for a new house on the Upper East Side of Manhattan?! The lot was worth about double what the house was IIRC, and the wife got it all.
Report
23points
#14
Here's a story of a potential thwarted divorce case, told to me by our closing attorney.
Man and his fiancé are buying a house together. They get to the paper where you sign off on all your aliases. The woman has a full page of former names. The guy asks, "what is this?"
The woman non-chalantley says, "oh, I've been married five times before." The guy gets up and walks out. Needless to say they did not buy the house or stay together.
Man and his fiancé are buying a house together. They get to the paper where you sign off on all your aliases. The woman has a full page of former names. The guy asks, "what is this?"
The woman non-chalantley says, "oh, I've been married five times before." The guy gets up and walks out. Needless to say they did not buy the house or stay together.
Report
23points
#15
I had a few.
One guy had his wife served with the divorce papers while she was in the hospital undergoing cancer treatment. She had no idea he wanted a divorce.
One guy wanted a provision in his divorce that said his sons couldn't watch NASCAR because the wife's new boyfriend was into NASCAR.
In the same case, the property division was so contentious that the judge had the parties list every piece of furniture in the house and try to work through who would get what. The guy made sure that he wanted everything she did, down to things like lace doilies her grandma made and some trophy she won in a women's shooting competition ("I bought her the gun so its pretty much my trophy").
Another guy wanted no custody and no visitation with his four sons until he learned how much child support would be. Then he wanted full custody with no visitation for the wife in the hope that she'd have to pay him child support.
I only did divorces for about a year before I moved on to mortgage foreclosures. Those are far less depressing.
One guy had his wife served with the divorce papers while she was in the hospital undergoing cancer treatment. She had no idea he wanted a divorce.
One guy wanted a provision in his divorce that said his sons couldn't watch NASCAR because the wife's new boyfriend was into NASCAR.
In the same case, the property division was so contentious that the judge had the parties list every piece of furniture in the house and try to work through who would get what. The guy made sure that he wanted everything she did, down to things like lace doilies her grandma made and some trophy she won in a women's shooting competition ("I bought her the gun so its pretty much my trophy").
Another guy wanted no custody and no visitation with his four sons until he learned how much child support would be. Then he wanted full custody with no visitation for the wife in the hope that she'd have to pay him child support.
I only did divorces for about a year before I moved on to mortgage foreclosures. Those are far less depressing.
Report
22points
#16
Not strictly divorces, but my family law professor had some good stories:
Story 1: Client calls: "Hi, can I kick my pregnant girlfriend out of the house?"
"You really shouldn't do that."
"But can I? Legally speaking?"
"Since you never married, and the home is in your name, yes, you can legally exclude her but you really shouldn't."
"Thanks - I need you to explain that to someone."
Client opens door, where police are getting ready with a ram, hands cellphone to police officer.
Story 2: Unmarried mum comes in and asks: "So, what do I have to do to get his house?"
"Um, you really shouldn't be getting married if you're already planning to end the relationship."
"Yeah, but what do I have to do?"
"Well, if you're married and live in the home, it become a matrimonial home and you have an equal right to possession upon divorce."
Thanks" [...]
Client calls again: "He wants me to sign a prenup"
"Well, this would limit what you would be able to get in a divorce, and it doesn't really give you anything. Why are you getting married if both you and he know that you're only in it to get his house?"
"Okay so I shouldn't sign it?" [...]
Client calls again: "Okay, we're married now, but he won't let me move in."
Family law is crazy. A guest speaker in that course was beaten up by thugs for a ruling he made in a high profile arbitration case.
Story 1: Client calls: "Hi, can I kick my pregnant girlfriend out of the house?"
"You really shouldn't do that."
"But can I? Legally speaking?"
"Since you never married, and the home is in your name, yes, you can legally exclude her but you really shouldn't."
"Thanks - I need you to explain that to someone."
Client opens door, where police are getting ready with a ram, hands cellphone to police officer.
Story 2: Unmarried mum comes in and asks: "So, what do I have to do to get his house?"
"Um, you really shouldn't be getting married if you're already planning to end the relationship."
"Yeah, but what do I have to do?"
"Well, if you're married and live in the home, it become a matrimonial home and you have an equal right to possession upon divorce."
Thanks" [...]
Client calls again: "He wants me to sign a prenup"
"Well, this would limit what you would be able to get in a divorce, and it doesn't really give you anything. Why are you getting married if both you and he know that you're only in it to get his house?"
"Okay so I shouldn't sign it?" [...]
Client calls again: "Okay, we're married now, but he won't let me move in."
Family law is crazy. A guest speaker in that course was beaten up by thugs for a ruling he made in a high profile arbitration case.
Report
22points
#17
IANAL, but there was a wife who was pretty sure her husband was cheating on her. She needed proof, so she hid a tape recorder under the bed in the bedroom the next time she left the house. She came back and right there on tape was him raping/molesting her daughter. She divorced him. I sat on the jury at his trial. He went to jail.
Report
21points
#18
Also not a divorce lawyer but my coworker hit the mess over your soon to be ex spouse jackpot.
I have a coworker who rented a pretty nice sized house for his wife and 4 children. He always talked about wishing he could own a house that big for his family but would need to settle on renting for now.
He talked about how unbelievable the price was to rent a house that size and how nice the couple was that owned it.
Well that couple who owned the house eventually started going through a messy divorce.
The house was in the wife’s name and she didn’t want the husband to have it.
She told my coworker about the divorce and he thought she was going to say that he had to move because they needed to sell the house.
Instead she asked if he wanted it. He said he was already getting it for a steal for what they charged for rent and couldn’t possibly afford to buy it.
She replied with I will take whatever you think you can offer and it’s yours.
The wife also knew that the husband wouldn’t be cold hearted enough to fight it either since it wouldn’t look good having a story about him kicking a family out of their home.
TLDR - Wife basically gave house to tenants so husband couldn’t get it in the divorce. Husband didn’t want to look bad by fighting it and kicking a family to the curb.
I have a coworker who rented a pretty nice sized house for his wife and 4 children. He always talked about wishing he could own a house that big for his family but would need to settle on renting for now.
He talked about how unbelievable the price was to rent a house that size and how nice the couple was that owned it.
Well that couple who owned the house eventually started going through a messy divorce.
The house was in the wife’s name and she didn’t want the husband to have it.
She told my coworker about the divorce and he thought she was going to say that he had to move because they needed to sell the house.
Instead she asked if he wanted it. He said he was already getting it for a steal for what they charged for rent and couldn’t possibly afford to buy it.
She replied with I will take whatever you think you can offer and it’s yours.
The wife also knew that the husband wouldn’t be cold hearted enough to fight it either since it wouldn’t look good having a story about him kicking a family out of their home.
TLDR - Wife basically gave house to tenants so husband couldn’t get it in the divorce. Husband didn’t want to look bad by fighting it and kicking a family to the curb.
Report
20points
#19
IANAL but my uncle and aunt are divorcing at the moment. I would say these things just happen sometimes but given that she started spending a lot of time with (and introducing my cousins to) another man within weeks of giving notice and all this happened within a couple of months of his mum dying...yeah, she's not held in high regard in our family at the moment.
Anyway, she's going after his money. This includes everything from trying to claim some of his inheritance (not claimable in the UK, as it's awarded solely to those named on the will), trying to claim assets that he had before they married like his tools (again, not claimable as the predate the marriage and aren't a shared asset) and trying to value everything he'd like to keep as much higher than its actual value (so he has to pay her more in order to keep it).
The thing is my uncle isn't an unfair man. He actually offered her a very generous settlement which was more than she was entitled to but less than she asked for...which she rejected. A couple of months later (and armed with more news on her post-seperation activities) he makes another offer which is lower than the first but still more than fair...which she rejected as well.
Now my uncle is annoyed. His final offer is exactly what she's entitled to splitting assets down the middle and not a penny more. It's still a very comfortable sum...which she very rudely rejected (I didn't realise you could cram that many swear words into three sentences. I'm almost impressed). So he's taking her to court. The revenge is that at the moment she's not earning a penny because she doesn't work and is persona non-grata in both our family and hers by her own actions so lawyer fees are going to be very hard on her wallet and she might have to take a lower offer quickly before her own savings run out. By contrast my uncle has a decent job and the full support of siblings on both sides of the family so he can comfortably wait this out until she crumbles under the legal bills. She should've taken the first offer...
Anyway, she's going after his money. This includes everything from trying to claim some of his inheritance (not claimable in the UK, as it's awarded solely to those named on the will), trying to claim assets that he had before they married like his tools (again, not claimable as the predate the marriage and aren't a shared asset) and trying to value everything he'd like to keep as much higher than its actual value (so he has to pay her more in order to keep it).
The thing is my uncle isn't an unfair man. He actually offered her a very generous settlement which was more than she was entitled to but less than she asked for...which she rejected. A couple of months later (and armed with more news on her post-seperation activities) he makes another offer which is lower than the first but still more than fair...which she rejected as well.
Now my uncle is annoyed. His final offer is exactly what she's entitled to splitting assets down the middle and not a penny more. It's still a very comfortable sum...which she very rudely rejected (I didn't realise you could cram that many swear words into three sentences. I'm almost impressed). So he's taking her to court. The revenge is that at the moment she's not earning a penny because she doesn't work and is persona non-grata in both our family and hers by her own actions so lawyer fees are going to be very hard on her wallet and she might have to take a lower offer quickly before her own savings run out. By contrast my uncle has a decent job and the full support of siblings on both sides of the family so he can comfortably wait this out until she crumbles under the legal bills. She should've taken the first offer...
Report
19points
#20
IANAL, but my mom's best friend is a family lawyer.
A husband and a wife were having a very acrimonious separation. If I remember correctly, he was very successful, and she was going after him for an immense amount of money.
She happened to be a multi-prize winning gardener. We're talking about an absolutely exceptional collection of rare and gorgeous flowers, shrubs, the works.
After an unsatisfactory development in their divorce proceedings, she came home to find that her husband had ridden their lawn mower over her entire garden, shredding every last stem and leaf into bits.
A husband and a wife were having a very acrimonious separation. If I remember correctly, he was very successful, and she was going after him for an immense amount of money.
She happened to be a multi-prize winning gardener. We're talking about an absolutely exceptional collection of rare and gorgeous flowers, shrubs, the works.
After an unsatisfactory development in their divorce proceedings, she came home to find that her husband had ridden their lawn mower over her entire garden, shredding every last stem and leaf into bits.
Report
18points