There can be many reasons why couples would choose to divorce. Some may have grown apart and no longer feel the connection they once had, while others may have faced major struggles that they couldn’t overcome, such as financial problems, infidelity, or childlessness. But while there are many valid reasons for a couple to divorce, there are also some rather bizarre grounds why a party would file for the dissolution of marriage and/or separation.
As family law practitioners in the Evergreen State, we’re not new to weird reasons couples choose to uncouple. We’re also sure that our fellow divorce attorneys have had their fair share of weird couple issues, from the silly to the downright disturbing. Here are some of the most outlandish reasons people have divorced, straight from the lawyers who handled their cases.
Puppy love
A family law attorney shared that one couple severed their marriage because of their dogs. The wife complained that her husband purposely took their furry babies for walks while she was at work so that they would get attached to him. Apparently, hell hath no fury like a woman denied of cuddles from her dogs after a long day at work. Instead of talking it over with her husband, she decided she has had enough of being denied cuddles and filed for divorce. We don’t know if she demanded full custody of the canines.
The classic “It’s not you, it’s me” excuse with a twist
A client of one divorce lawyer admitted that while he had filed for divorce, he didn’t really want to leave his wife. However, he figured that if he did, he would get half the home's equity, which was worth $700,000. And he just really, really, really needed the money. Not only had he blown through their conjugal life savings by gambling, but he also owed his bookmaker $70,000.
If you ever find yourself in a similar situation, remember that there are more ways to pay your debt than liquidating your estate through a divorce.
In which two couples divorced, but they all lived happily ever after
Two couples who had been friends for 15 years approached a lawyer and said that they would both like to get divorced. It turns out that they wanted to switch partners: Husband A and Wife B would like to marry each other, and Husband B and Wife A would love to tie the knot. What made the partner swap situation easy was that the couples’ assets had near-identical values.
Their lawyer drafted two sets of paperwork, and the couples eventually attended two judgment hearings on the same day. A week after the judge signed both papers, the couples remarried. The wives stayed at their old houses, and their husbands switched places. Everyone was happy.
Tricked by a Turkish fraudster
Infidelity is widely known to be one of the most common causes of divorce. But in one case handled by a divorce attorney, a husband filed for divorce not only because his wife was cheating on him but also because of with whom she was cheating.
He discovered that his wife got proposed to by an online persona who introduced himself as the “Prince of Turkey,” and that she was about to give this prince $45,000, move to Turkey, and marry him. It was obviously a scam. First of all, Turkey doesn’t have a prince — the country abolished the monarchy way back in 1922. It also makes little sense why it was the wife, a commoner, who had to give the prince money instead of the other way around.
Given how gullible his wife was, this husband may have just saved himself a lifetime of trouble by filing for a divorce.
These are just some of the strangest reasons couples have divorced, and there are undoubtedly many more of their kind out there. If you are considering divorcing your partner, it’s important to make sure that you are making this decision for the right reasons — not just because of one minor issue you can't seem to resolve. But if you’re sure that divorce is the best option for you, consult with a trusted lawyer to get started on the process. If you live in Washington, the doors of Buckingham, LaGrandeur, and Williams are always open for divorce consultations. Contact us today.