Many spouses choose a no-fault divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. In the US, for example, 31% of couples who end their marriages report that incompatibility is the main factor. But the leading causes are infidelity (or extramarital affairs) with 34% and lack of family support with 43%. And how people and up in these (and other) categories can be as diverse as the individual themselves. So when Redditt user SpicyNovel asked everyone on the platform to share the most petty reason they've heard someone has gotten a divorce, they received plenty of replies.
Image credits: SpicyNovel
#1
I volunteer at an animal shelter. A couple came in one day and got into a huge argument over one of our cats. She had a temporary shelter name on the door: Tinkerbell. The woman thought it was an adorable name and just perfect for the kitty. The husband absolutely refused to have anything to do with the name Tinkerbell and insisted that if they did adopt the cat, they'd have to change her name.
There followed about 15 minutes of off and on bickering, with her insisting that this cat was the embodiment of Tinkerbell and the husband peppering his rebuttal with suggestions like Pickles and Wombat. I explained that the cat had only had the name for a month and pointed out that most people change their cat's name when they adopt.
But she said that changing an animal's name was cruel and anyway, her cat was absolutely a Tinkerbell. Then she persisted in speaking to the poor creature in that awful baby-talk people use when confronted with adorable animals. I thought she was pretty annoying. Apparently her husband thought so too because after a few more minutes of her cooing at poor Tinkerbell, the husband abruptly said, "I don't want a pet named Tinkerbell. In fact, I don't want a pet at all. I want a divorce." And then he walked off.
We reassured Tinkerbell that she was not responsible for their divorce and adopted her out only a few hours later to a lovely couple who named her Daisy.
181points
#2
"I fell out of love with you after your dad died. I know you were grieving, but I had needs too!"
My ex wife everyone. Her excuse for cheating and immediately moving in with the other guy.
153points
#3
She got fat, and he filed saying he “no longer felt attracted to her.” Funny thing is that after she gave him the divorce, she worked out, got her smoking hot body again and here he comes crawling back like the worm he is. Of course she told him to p**s off, and she wound up dating her personal trainer for three years now lol.
145points
#4
My ex became a gym bro after getting married. Two years into it he asked for a divorce because he was upset I did not know how much weight he was lifting in the leg press machine. Some months before he had "banned me" from going with him to the gym because I did not match his vibe, so when I returned I was kind of doing my thing and my own routine, but not focusing fully on him was apparently the wrong move.
So well, that. Narcissist type. Obviously he had a new girl immediately after, but the reason he gave me about the weight was just so petty.
125points
#5
I have a cousin who has been married 4 times for a year and a half collectively. The most recent divorce happened after a month when she told him he needed to cut the grass since it was tall. He got all pissed off and called it quits. Their preacher went to talk to him and told him “ well she’s right. The grass is getting tall. You do need to cut it.” My cousins response dead a*s was “ I know that but ain’t no woman gonna tell me what to do!”.
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118points
#6
Someone I currently work with used to work in an oncology department where one of the doctors divorced his wife for getting cancer. Everyone in the department basically hated him. M I recall my colleague saying that new hires were all informed of what he’d done, so everyone could be on the same page of knowing he was a terrible person. From what I hear, his wife beat the cancer and I think the guy eventually changed hospitals he worked at.
117points
#7
My ex told me his grandmother was into astrology and psychic readings when she was younger (I don't know about her interest in her later years). Apparently, she got a reading that said her 3rd marriage would be the one that lasted, so she married and divorced quickly twice to get to the 3rd guy. They DID last until she passed, so maybe she was onto something, but maybe she was in too deep at that point and would have stayed just to prove a point. I always found it pretty wild.
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114points
#8
My friend claims his wife divorced him for no reason and that he did nothing to deserve this.
The wife said he spent 92% of their time together with his face in his phone. I can corroborate this because that's the same reason I stopped hanging out with him. I'd be telling a story and I'd look over to him and he'd be typing away on his phone, not listening to a damn thing I'm saying.
111points
#9
Grandma sued her 2nd husband for a divorce because he got me a puppy for my 7th birthday (she felt the puppy outshined her present to me).
109points
#10
My ex wife left me a couple weeks after I medically discharged from the military because she "wanted to be with someone who could take care of her" and ended up getting with another guy in the military. Just chasing benefits.
108points
#11
I’m a divorce attorney. Had a client whose wife filed for divorce because she didn’t get along with his sister ONE TIME. They had one disagreement. Seriously. That was it. He didn’t stick up for his wife, she got mad, and filed for divorce. She said on the stand that they had a great marriage, he was a good father, but that one incident was too much. The judge told them “this is the dumbest reason I’ve ever seen anyone get divorced.” And he’d been a judge for 20+ years.
101points
#12
I knew this couple ( the guy was three years younger than me and we went to school together as kids) where the husband was a farmer and he put his wife through school and she got her degrees ( she started off as a nurse and worked her way up) and became a PA. Once she started working at a doctor’s office, she thought she was too smart for her dumb farmer husband and divorced him because he wasn’t educated and he wasn’t up to her level of intelligence.
95points
#13
My ex-wife was the most negative, self-absorbed human I’ve ever met. She didn’t start out that way I wouldn’t have married her if she had been that way from the beginning. Everything had to be her way. When I started saying NO to her then she filed for divorce.
I don’t know how it is in all states, obviously, but in our state, the person that filed has to get on the stand and state the reason they want/need the divorce. She got on the stand and the judge asked her why she was filing for divorce. She said, “Well, we’re just two different people.” The judge responded, “You’re going to have to do much better than that.” She thought for few seconds and said, “We don’t see eye to eye. I see things as black and white, and he sees things as gray.”
The judge had a dumbfounded look on his face. He looked at me with what appeared to be a look of pity and excused her from the stand. He signed our papers.
95points
#14
A friend of mine had a seizure during the night. Ended up in the ICU for a couple of days then was on a LOA for 90 days. The day after he found out that he was going to need to take an LOA his wife went and filed for divorce, stating that without his regular level of income he was "useless" to her.
94points
#15
A family friend: “Because I married the wrong brother”.
2 years later she married the older brother and they’ve been happily married for the last 20 years and have a kid together.
94points
#16
Dad says, "Honey - I want a divorce!"
Wife says, "Wow! Well. S**t. Hey, Junior? Who do you want to live with -- your father, or me?"
Junior: "I want to live with daddy!"
Dad says, "Aw, s**t! I don't want to get divorced!".
93points
#17
I wish I was kidding but a girl I knew from my track team, initiated the divorce because his husband bought an Android phone. Her reasoning was that his old account was synced on their shared devices so she could see what he was up to, but now with android, he must be hiding something. Good thing they were only married for less than 6 months.
83points
#18
My mom divorced my step dad because he inherited 15k from his mother who died and used it on his own vehicle. He payed all the bills for her, she gets social secuirty and that’s “hers”. She’s a horrible person who only cares about money.
82points
#19
My uncle divorced his 6th wife because he wanted remarry his first wife.
81points
#20
My dad's second wife divorced him because we pointed out she was racist and she didn't like it. My wife and kids are black. She couldn't muster up a sorry so she mustered up divorce papers.
81points