You never really know what people will reveal when a divorce gets messy. Sometimes, it could be something small like fighting over shared items, but once in a while, there are shocking secrets that come to light...
So when user Dr_THC on Reddit asked, "Divorce lawyers of Reddit, what's the best-kept secret couples have kept from one another?" divorce lawyers and people with stories of their own came forward with absolutely wild stories:
Note: Some responses are also from this Reddit thread.
1.
"Large amounts of debt, affairs, substance abuse and porn are all fairly common in terms of secrets that pop up in my cases. So much so, it's almost expected. However, this one was my favorite: The client is an older gentleman. His son is a pastor. Everything about his situation seemed very normal in terms of income, property, and so on. However, it turns out he had a pretty serious porn hobby, and he was concerned his wife might find out and use it against him in the divorce. However, as I mentioned above, I assured him that it was pretty run-of-the-mill these days and unlikely to affect anything. He then asks if I'd feel the same knowing the porn is not 'mainstream.' I ask what he means, and he looks very nervous. I wanted to make sure he wasn't referencing you-know-what, so I pushed him on it. The guy was into goats."
—TheLadyInReddit
2.
"I work for a divorce attorney now, but the wildest thing came to my attention when I worked for the prosecuting attorney. This couple was breaking up, and Mister left the house. Missus went to work the next morning as usual. When she returned home in the evening, she found that Mister had been to the house and had removed his clothing and belongings, as she expected. What she didn't expect was that he had also superglued her belongings together. He glued the TV remote to the table, the phone to its cradle, the couch pillows to the couch, and even glued the vacuum cleaner to the carpet. She called the police and reported this as property damage. The police went with her through the house, documenting dozens of items glued to various things. I've seen people do and say really awful things to each other, but that was diabolical."
—Maxwyfe
3.
"This East Coast husband had a listed income of $1.5 million. He cheated on his wife 10 times. Almost at the end of the divorce process, we learned that the husband had another family in Seattle, a different name, and another $14 million salary in tech. His vested stock options under the second identity were worth $214 million. How was he discovered living this double life? His Seattle wife posted a picture on Facebook and tagged him with his West Coast name. The East Coast wife similarly posted a photograph of him, and the facial recognition assigned him a possible name: his West Coast name. The two wives got in touch. But wait, there's more! He has a wife and family in Czechia and moved there to avoid family court — and is currently being pursued for extradition."
—Cold_Zero_
4.
"One case that came in was a couple divorcing on mutual terms. The husband had one child with her, and the wife had a child from the previous marriage. He agreed to pay child support for both children. I guess he really cared about this other child enough to support her even though it wasn't his obligation. The judge signed the order, they went to set up the child support account, and it got kicked back, saying 'you can’t have two accounts for one child.' Turns out she’d been collecting child support from the biological father the entire time and never told him. She basically tried to milk two fathers for one child...and the other attorney knew about it."
—Dikutoy
5.
"I was reviewing the wife's answers to her discovery requests and assisting the husband with answering his questions. We get to the part where it asks about engaging in extramarital sexual relations. The husband tells me that he recently saw a sex worker, 'but don't worry, it was in Canada, so it's OK.' I just nodded and took notes. In going over the wife's answers, she listed 'bestiality' as a factor that led to the breakdown of the relationship. I asked the husband about this (because I had to know what other issues may come to light), and he told me he got really drunk one night after they separated, called her up and told her he 'f*cked a goat,' but he swore he didn't actually do that. I was really professional and kept a straight face during the meeting, but my boss and I laughed about that for ages."
—CeramicOCtetNo
6.
"For years, my friend and her husband had trouble with the trash pickup just skipping their house, and a lot of times she would call and complain. Then she filed for divorce, and they were going through some type of mediation. It came out that he was just too lazy to take the trash cans to the curb, and she would believe him when he said he had done it."
—jimmy_talent
7.
"My divorce lawyer told me about a case she was involved in where both clients were so petty that they had to all meet to argue over literally every single scrap of everything. The final object that neither would settle on was a ceramic rabbit statue, a really generic one from Home Depot or whatever. It had zero sentimental value, but since it was the final item, neither side wanted to 'lose' the last thing, and they dragged it out over three separate meetings for this one thing. I don't remember which ended up getting it, but once they settled it and signed everything, the 'winning' party stuck it on their lawyer's desk as a gift and walked out."
—Much_Difference
8.
"During my first year of law school, lawyers from different practices came to give us a peek behind the curtain of different areas. The divorce lawyer told the story of a rather well-to-do couple that spent months and many tens of thousands of dollars fighting over absolutely everything, all the way down to a single ceramic ashtray. He couldn’t remember the significance, but somehow it had come through the husband’s family. Even after everything else had been decided, they spent many more months and nearly $100,000 fighting over just this ashtray. Then, after a court hearing, the wife finally won the ashtray. She promptly strode out to the white courthouse steps...and smashed the ceramic ashtray. She left the pieces all over for the husband to see on his way out. That day, I decided I would not be a divorce lawyer."
—inkseep1
9.
"The husband was a physician, and the wife was a hairstylist. The husband lied about being having a long-term disease to the wife and her family. He used this lie to leave his job and stayed home for years while the wife took on multiple jobs and tried to support him on her income alone. They found out he was lying, and she filed for divorce. He was ordered by the judge to immediately seek employment as a doctor and pay the wife alimony based on his theoretical salary."
—financial-jaguar
10.
"I was an assistant for a family law practice. It was already a disaster of a divorce because the ex-husband was a dick. But it got so much worse when the wife started dating someone new with a severe cat allergy a year after they split up. Her terrible ex bought a cat during his time with the kids, except he wasn't allowed pets at his apartment. He sent the kids back to their mom’s house with the cat and all its stuff. The mom was pissed because she didn’t want a cat at all, plus her boyfriend was super allergic. She called us asking what to do because her kids were bawling, saying that she couldn't get rid of their new 'sibling,' and she had the cat in the garage."
—drlitt
11.
"I see a lot of unsubstantiated, severe accusations to deteriorate the relationship between dad and the kids. We’ll hire experts and therapists, and there will be an investigation. We’ll have depositions and a trial. And after a year has passed without the dad being allowed to see his children and thousands and thousands of dollars have been spent, it will come out that nothing happened. This happens in my practice about once or twice a year. Very common."
—fendaar
12.
"The husband and wife divorce after the husband finds out wife is sexting other guys. He goes into a deep depression. They didn't have much: lots of debt and two dogs. One was a dog he had had since before the marriage. He got her. The other dog was only about 3 years old and was bought to keep the older dog company while they worked. The wife demanded that since he got his dog, she should get the other one. He was depressed and just wanted to move on, so he agreed. She got the dog and had it put down the next day. She didn't want the dog. She just wanted to hurt him."
—fingawkward
13.
"My friend's dad was a divorce lawyer. He told us a story about a couple who fought over Beanie Babies and hid the 'rare' ones from each other."
—I_like_14waffles
14.
"I'm a paralegal for a divorce lawyer. Our client told us he didn't clear out the marital account after the parties filed for divorce. Which technically is true, because while he removed $45,000, he left about $3.50 in there."
—cannabisandcrabs
15.
"Divorce lawyer here. One spouse had been out of the house for weeks. She waited until he was on a business trip, came into the house, turned on all of the faucets, plugged the drains, turned off the furnace, and left. It was -10 degrees. He came back 5 days later. The house was ruined. The water froze and cracked the foundation."
—Slagathar1
16.
"A man gambled away $70,000 of their marital savings. The wife didn't know until she filed for divorce. She hit him in the head with a hammer and was arrested."
—RavenHairBeauty
17.
"My husband's uncle was going through a divorce. His wife had just packed up her stuff and their kids and moved out one day while he was at work. Come to find out, a few weeks before she left, she'd won a $5,000-a-week-for-life lottery ticket. And thought she could divorce him without splitting her winnings. That didn't work out very well for her."
—jader88
18.
"I had a client whose wife wanted him out of the house. I told him not to leave; just move to a different bedroom for the time being, because once he was out, the chances of him ever getting back in were slim. He texted his wife and told her he was staying in the house. She called back and left a voicemail that she wanted him out, and if he wasn't out soon, she would start taking out her unhappiness on the children and would remind the children that mommy was being mean to them because daddy wouldn't leave."
—Armada5
19.
"A guy comes into my office saying he needs representation. He states that he is the victim and his wife blindsided him with divorce paperwork less than a year into their marriage. After a few weeks, I get a call from an arbitrator from the wife's attorney who set up a meeting, thinking that they were interested in settling in the best interest of the husband. I come to find out the dude had a bunch of nasty secrets he failed to mention, which included two kids with another woman that he failed to mention to his wife about, and being in the hole for back child support."
—godbullseye
20.
"In my dad's last divorce, it came out that his wife had been having an affair throughout her last THREE marriages. It was with her first boyfriend, who was also her step-brother. Neither of them wanted to settle, and it ended up coming out in a hearing or trial in front of the court. But my dad was no angel, and had threatened, so they both played themselves."
—AtTheEolian
21.
"A married couple got their gas utility account turned on at their house back in 1972, but the gas company never finished the paperwork properly, and they were never billed. They got free gas service forever because their account was properly 'on,' but the billing was never set up. Later, they divorced, and the husband got the house with the free gas service. The gas company finally caught the problem. The guy told the company to send the bill to his ex-wife. There was a clause in the divorce settlement that said that if the gas company was ever notified of or discovered the free gas deal, the ex-wife would have to pay any past bill payments. The arrangement was made so that the wife could never alert the company to their error without having to pay herself. What was amazing was that two lawyers and a judge signed off on this while fully knowing that the guy was getting away with it."
—inkseep1
22.
"In Australia, a divorcing husband hid $10+ million by making an overpayment to the tax office. Auditors thought it was a tax payment, but 6 months later, it was refunded with the base interest rate. Since then, auditors have caught onto this."
—Syidd
23.
And lastly: "One of my firm's clients hid a million dollars."
—lawschoollorax
If you are a current or former divorce lawyer, what's the craziest thing you've witnessed? Let us know in the comments or via this anonymous form!
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
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