Even with the best family lawyer in the world, the end of a marriage can be tough. But you’re not alone: millions of people go through divorce every year and come out the other side still standing. In partnership with Toronto family lawyers Matrimonial Home, we’ve scoured the internet for some of the most jaw-dropping stories about why couples got divorced, and what happened next. So if you’re going through a divorce and it’s getting you down, read on to be reassured: it could always be worse…
#1 The disowning daughter
It can be hard for kids when their parents divorce and remarry – but how do you cope when your 20-year-old daughter won’t get over it a decade later? Read the full story on Slate’s Dear Prudence advice column here.
#2 The secret second family
His wife thought he travelled for work a lot…and, er, so did his other wife. You have to respect the guy’s organisational skills, if not his morals. Read the full story here.
#3 The disappearing dad
A new father wrote to Dear Prudence to complain that his friends were being mean to him about his decision to leave his wife and their weeks-old baby. Grab a tiny violin and read the full story here.
#4 The purr-fect payback
A wife surprised her soon-to-be-ex-husband and his divorce lawyers by agreeing to give up the living-room furniture in the settlement. When it arrived in his new home he was delighted…until he started sneezing! Read the full story here (#9 at the link).
#5 The husband with halitosis
There are a lot of good reasons for getting divorced, but ‘my adult husband refuses to visit a dentist’ is one of the more unusual ones we’ve heard! Read the whole tooth at Dear Prudence.
#6 The no-filter Facebooker
The Captain Awkward advice column featured a question from someone whose Facebook ‘friend’ – a colleague from years ago – was tagging his soon-to-be-ex-wife in long Facebook posts about their split. Check out this over-sharing cautionary tale here.
#7 Thorny thank-yous
“I found out about my husband’s secret girlfriend less than six months after our wedding…do I still have to write our thank-you notes?” This Dear Prudence letter will give you many feelings.
#8 The kinda cuckolded co-worker
Breaking up someone else’s marriage? Bad. Working for the woman whose divorce you caused? A thousand times worse. Get ready to cringe at this letter to the Ask A Manager advice column.
#9 The sad seventies story
Their dad walked out – then their mum said she’d had enough of them too. This story – one of several stories of children with divorced parents through the decades, told in this Guardian piece – might just break your heart.
#10 The undead unwed
And if you need cheering up after that, you might enjoy this story about a man who claimed his wife couldn’t divorce him – because he’d already died…
Divorce doesn’t have to be a horror story: for most people, it’s the best decision they ever made. To make sure yours goes smoothly, talk to a specialist divorce lawyer today.
