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49 Divorce Lawyers Reveal The Pettiest And Cruelest Things They’ve Seen People Do During A Split
There’s a thin line between love and hate, and nowhere does that seem more obvious than when a marriage falls apart. Once a couple decides to divorce, years of love can suddenly give way to resentment, and sometimes the person you once wanted to spend your life with becomes the person you’re determined to hurt the most.
One Redditor asked divorce lawyers to share the most evil things they’ve witnessed on the job, and the stories got dark pretty quickly. From calculated acts of revenge to attempts to take every last cent from an ex, these cases show just how ugly divorce can become. Read some of the wildest stories below.
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#1
Not a lawyer but a veterinarian. We had a guy try to have his estranged wife's dog euthanized during a messy divorce. Fortunately for her and the dog, the dog was already our patient and our policy was not to do any treatment without at least verbal consent from the client on the pet's chart. She was the only one who'd ever brought the dog in before that and hadn't put her husband's name on the paperwork, so after he checked in the technician called the owner on file to speak with her about why her slightly old but apparently healthy dog was being brought in for euthanasia.
Turned out he'd stopped by the house earlier that day and stolen the dog from the yard. She'd had no idea where they were until we called. Police were involved, and ultimately the dog made it back home safely.
StrangeOne 11 minutes ago
How sick. It makes me wonder why some people get married to those they despise so much they would hold so much hate and unleash it during the divorce. Sometimes before then.
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#2
My ex's cousin worked for a divorce lawyer and told us about one couple who got into a massive dispute over custody of their 2 young kids (4 and 6, if I recall).
The fight wasn't about who would get them, it was over who had to take them. Neither wanted custody.
Just made me feel sad for those kids.
Toujin C'Thlu 2 hours ago
Why did they have kids in the first place if neither one wanted them?
#3
A work colleague divorced his wife. He got royally screwed and she got everything practically. A huge portion of his salary went to her and the kids. She almost immediately met someone else and they went on lavish holidays and spent big with his money. Not much he could do and kept everything civil for the sake of the kids. A little while later they announce they're going to marry and have planned many things thereafter. He offered to pay for the bells at the church to be played on the big day, which they loved.
During the weddings evening reception he was asked why he paid for that and explained now they're married, he no longer has to pay them any money. They didn't know this at all and quickly found out that evening! They'd committed on a mortgage, booked a massive honeymoon, overspent on the wedding etc, all with his money and they needed it to continue. He just walked away from them.
Such sweet revenge.
EDIT: he gave his children an allowance directly afterwards. They didn't go without, it's just now his ex-wife can't spend it on herself and the new husband.
#4
I’m not a lawyer, but I worked with a woman who divorced her husband because she wanted children and he didn’t. By all accounts their marriage was fine but neither of them would budge on the kid thing.
She didn’t ask for anything in their divorce except that he get a vasectomy. Essentially, she wanted a guarantee that if he refused to have children with her, he couldn’t have children with anyone. If he didn’t agree to it, she threatened to come after his 401k, sue for alimony, emotional distress, fraud, and all kinds of stuff. None of it would have stuck, but it was either he get a vasectomy or she would drag him through legal hell.
Edit: I’m aware vasectomies can be reversed, I just wanted to point out that her reaction to him potentially not having the procedure done was pretty nasty/evil.
#5
Opposing counsel on one of my cases called my client “too emotional” during a hearing - after finally coming clean about years of domestic violence.
#7
I was a legal assistant and a woman opted to give everything in return for her husband’s mother’s china, which was beloved to him and his family. It went on forever and eventually he relented.
On the day the divorce decree was signed, she showed up and she broke every piece, put it in a box and mailed it to him.
#8
Not a lawyer but I remember there was an article years ago where divorce lawyers talked about their worst cases. (Anonymously, obviously.) One that I still remember was a case where neither of the people wanted the children but they were fighting over the dogs.
#9
Not that evil per se but entertaining?
She steamed off all the labels on the bottles in the wine cellar so there was no way to know if something was a $20 bottle or $2000. Man just about lost his mind.
Another girl smashed the guys Lego to smithereens. A whole room of assembled sets all mixed up.
#10
My stepdad's ex-wife sat his 3 kids down around the tree. She told them on Christmas Eve that they could go to their father's house for Christmas if they really wanted to but they would never see her again and she would miss them. Because their Dad was going to end their lives. They were 5, 7, 8 years old.
Of course this wasn't really going to happen to these kids - she was just an AWFUL woman. She had told him that she was going to make sure those children would never want to spend another holiday, weekend or minute with him. And she was right. They were petrified of him. He adored those kids and she did everything possible to ruin their relationship. She mentally hurt those children as teens, as adults. Evil incarnate.
#11
Early in the marriage, parents adopted a child. Twelve years later during divorce proceedings, father filed petition the terminate his own custody and child support because his attorney found a defect in the final adoption order. Dad was able to dump his wife AND his kid.
EDIT: This was 20ish years ago in Virginia. I did not represent mom or dad. There was a procedural error in the adoption to such extent that the adoption was invalid - similar to a marriage void ab initio.
#12
My mom let my dad keep the house, and in the chaos of everything did not prioritize getting her name off the mortgage. My dad foreclosed on the house just to spite her and her credit score. This foreclosure was on her credit from when I was 13-20, and I never knew it - we still did all our activities (dance and cheer is not cheap), went on a vacation every year, and had a clean and safe house in a nice neighborhood. My mom budgeted like a BOSS and paid for everything on a debit card! Brand new furniture, $1,500 dance team fees, I even got a car when I turned 16. We thrifted almost all of our clothes and hardly ever went out to eat, but I never felt the stress that she undoubtedly felt and carried by herself for that time. My mom rules!
#13
Not a lawyer, but worked for a bank many years ago. I had a client come in because there was no money in her account. Her future ex had taken everything out of all of their accounts. He remortgaged the house and drained their HELOC so that she had no access to any money. He cancelled her credit cards too. She had nothing. She was a stay at home mom and couldn’t buy food for her 2 and 8 year old. They were still living in the same house together, and he would bring food home for himself but nothing for anyone else.
#14
My dad's lawyer quit on him when he requested a hearing to fight my mom over keeping a porch swing. I never saw 2 people be more vindictive and childish.
#15
Somebody actually went as far as planting some fake text messages on an old cellphone, putting it in the car of his wife and then calling the police on what was clearly a made-up story about domestic violence. the amount of effort that people put into breaking the law to have an advantage in a custody battle is ridiculous.
#16
During my divorce mediation the ex made a big deal about wanting custody of LD the cat. I got the other dog & cat. He kept postponing pickup of LD. Months later he messages me about wanting a kitchen knife that was sentimental for him. I told him OK but the trade was for LD the cat. Deal.
I hope he finds comfort in his knife.
#17
Divorce attorney for about 13 years, based outside Philly. Had a client who lived in Ohio, 8yo son living with mom in PA. He got diagnosed with pancreatic cancer (terminal of course, about 2 month timeline). Mother refused to let the kid visit dad one last time before he passed; wouldn't even let the kid's older half-siblings pick him up for a weekend visit. Took it to court to try to force mom's hand and the judge's response blew my mind even more than mom's obstinance. Per the judge, "Can't the kid just Facetime dad? I don't see what the big deal is with forcing mom to do something she doesn't want to do." Left that courtroom feeling like I got dragged through the liquid garbage pit in Star Wars. Dad died a few weeks after the hearing without ever getting to say goodbye to his son and without his son getting any sense of closure. Don't think mom even let him have the Facetime call with dad. Can only hope that kid is doing alright and has gotten all the therapy.
Edit: Oh yeah almost forgot, at the time of the hearing, mom was awaiting sentencing for her 4th or 5th DUI in the past 5 years, but rich blonde white ladies apparently don't go to jail in Bucks Co so she got to skate with community service and probation somehow. If that kid is still alive and not in foster care, it would be a miracle.
2nd PS- For those wondering "what Dad did to lose custody," Dad had primary after Mom's 3rd DUI, which she actually did the mandatory minimum for. Custody judge transferred primary to Mom upon her release because Dad stopped taking the kid from Ohio to Pa to visit Mom in jail toward tail end of her sentence. Kid was getting freaked out by the visits because Mom was in full blown withdrawal psychosis, making insane promises about the future, totally age inappropriate conversations, etc.
By no means a men's rights activist attorney, but this was a good guy and both he and his son got trashed by the system.
#18
Opposing counsel on a case said she was dealing with another case where the wife stole all of her husband's left shoes.
#19
Dude who lived next door to me accepted a job on the opposite coast, moved his entire family, then resigned the new position as soon as they got there.
Then he turned around and found an apartment back in my town (which is how I know), moved back, and filed for divorce. When I asked him why he did that, he said that he didn't want them around and this was the cheapest way to get rid of them.
#20
That time the guy buried his ex wive on one of his golf courses so he could get a tax break for it now being a cemetery. Of course this was after he had her pushed down a flight of stairs causing her passing.
#21
Not a lawyer…. But child of divorce parents.
My dad had orders to a different base. They packed the whole house and it was on its way to next duty station. The day we were all to leave he hand my mom the divorce papers…. And he leaves soli. So no house for us to stay in and all our stuff shipped out. He later shipped her all trash back… every paper used to wrap breakables and such from the initial move. I know my momma is not perfect but he was starting a new life with my stepmom…. Why did he need alllll of our stuff? Petty.
#22
INAL but I work in mental health and used to work at a psych hospital and it was not uncommon for STB ex spouses filing petitions to get their ex involuntarily committed on false pretenses.
Now I work outpatient and thankfully my clinic has a hard policy about accepting clients who are involved in contentious custody battles because it can get so ugly and manipulative.
#23
Not a lawyer, but a friend worked with a guy for a couple weeks who had just gotten out of prison. He quickly went back to prison because his wife had divorced him while he was in so he chained her to the rear bumper of his car and dragged her around town until he was stopped by the police.
#24
This guy gets absolutely trashed in the divorce. She was an executive and he was a failed actor who ended up as a stay at home dad taking care of the kids. Somehow she keeps the house, the bank account, doesn't pay alimony, *and* keeps custody of the kids. The judge even gives him a harsh speech about financial responsibility and how he'll have to get a job if he ever wants to see his kids again. Truly heartwrenching stuff.
Anyways, like a week after the separation she figures out that raising three kids with a full time job is hard, so she decides to hire a full time nanny to take care of them. He finds out about this and something just breaks in his head; he fought for custody pretty hard and got denied after all. He goes crazy, and not normal crazy, *actor crazy*. He gets some of his old makeup artist friends to help him disguise himself as a woman, applies for the nannying job, *and gets it.* He actually kept up that up for a few months, nannying his own kids and by all accounts being a great parent while doing so.
#25
NAL, my friend was splitting everything after his wife cheated. She got the DVD's he got the cases. They had a very large collection.
#26
There's a picture that shows up frequently on reddit about a couple sorting out beanie babies on the court room floor.
#27
Knew a couple growing up with three kids. The youngest was born on Christmas Eve.
The wife ran a business out of their home 50+ hours a week. Husband expected hot dinner on a tray in his bedroom when he came home(while her business was still open). And everyone in the house had to reduce their volume by 50-70% while he was home, despite the business being open.
He served her divorce papers on his youngest child’s 18th birthday. Christmas Eve. He didn’t want to pay child support.
Had another woman he was ready to marry, that was like five-ish years older than his oldest child/daughter.
All he took with him was his clothes and his truck.
#28
A man divorced his wife because she was battling cancer and didn’t want to keep paying medical bills. Took the kids and made her pay him for child support as she was barely being able to survive. He lied to the kids and kept telling them horrible things about their mom and that she didn’t want to be around them basically saying she abandoned them.
#29
Most of the evil in family law that I've seen comes from the fact that judges often make interim decisions that do nothing but cause grief and suffering, therefore encouraging bad behaviour on the part of lawyers and clients.
#30
My ex BIL asked not to fight and be friends. He told my sister who was a SAHM that the next weekend he would pick her and the boy up and get new tires for her car. He then called child services on my sister for driving the kids around in an unsafe car. It did not get better from there.
#31
Couple divorced, woman got ~$100k as a lump sum. Fast forward to a year later, they're in mediation because she's got contempt motions against him for minor violations of the parenting agreement -- things like his being late to pick up the kids.
In mediation, she says she also wants child support because she's flat broke. I ask her what about the $100k. It all went to her team of divorce lawyers to fight over these contempt motions.
The whole time we were mediating, her three(!) lawyers were leaning over to her to say "You can't let (your ex) get away with this," and "(Your ex) is so disgusting." Winding her up and telling her the only way forward is to fight.
She could have had a soft landing, led a dignified life, and never seen the inside of the family court again. Her lawyers manipulated her into fighting over every little thing so they could convert her alimony into their alimony.
#32
Not a lawyer. A neighbor asked her husband for a divorce (he drank and did substance to excess). He moved out. Before a property settlement was in place, he waited for her to leave the home one evening. He then went in and absolutely destroyed the house. Ripped every door off its hinges, including the kitchen cupboards and bathroom vanities.
Took every picture and mirror off the walls and smashed them. Took a knife to all the furniture. Pulled all the dishes from the cupboards and smashed them. Pissed and pooped on her bed. Dumped paint on the carpeting, and vinegar on the hardwood floors. Took an axe to the appliances, walls and ceilings. He then threw canned goods through all the windows. Another neighbor heard that and called the police.
They wouldn't do anything about it because he was still technically an owner even though he didn't live there. Her insurance wouldn't do anything for the same reason. Luckily she was able to get a permanent restraining order, and local contractors and community volunteers came to her rescue, and within two months her home was restored.
#33
I can lighten the mood a bit here. Not a lawyer, but my dad was a family lawyer and I worked as a receptionist at his firm one summer after high school. I had to go through and shred documents of old cases. I’ll never forget the case of divorcing lesbians fighting over who got to keep the mobile home and the collection of Cabbage Patch dolls.
Not the worst thing in a divorce by a long shot, but certainly memorable.
#34
A spouse who didn't even like animals fighting tooth and nail for full custody of the family dog—not because they wanted the pet, but purely because they knew it was the other person's primary emotional support animal.
#35
In the course of getting divorced, the now-ex-wife decided to have the family dog put down to get back at the kids, who preferred to live with dad.
#36
Not evil, just stupid - my ex husband insisted on keeping all four calculators when we divorced in the mid-80s.
#37
Not a lawyer, but while my neighbor was taking their eldest out of state to college, her husband emptied the bank accounts, canceled the credit cards, and emptied the house of literally everything but the stove and refrigerator.
She came home and didn't have a penny, didn't have a mattress to sleep on, didn't even have paper to wipe her a*s. And she couldn't get a lawyer because she had no money or credit for a retainer.
Meanwhile the horrible husband had moved in with his twenty-year-old girlfriend, and declared that he didn't want visitation for their high-school aged boy and wouldn't be paying for their daughter's college.
Eventually I think she found someone who would work on contingency or something, because judges in my state *really* do not appreciate this behavior and he was not going to be favored in the legal settlement. Sadly she moved back to Kansas before I knew how it all worked out. .
#38
My Dad told me a story last weekend of one of his highschool friends who went away for a camping trip and came home to find his house empty and his parents gone.
He had to call his aunt to find iut that his paremts had split, his dad moved 1500km away, and his mum had taken his younger sister to a city 4hrs away.
Just bonkers to think about.
#39
Not a lawyer, but a court reporter. A client intentionally stayed in a miserable marriage for 3 whole years, quietly taking low-paying part-time jobs and hoarding cash under a family member's name, just so they could file when their spouse turned 65—ruining their retirement plan, taking half the pensions, and forcing them back into the workforce.
#40
Not a lawyer but when my mom was divorcing her first husband she asked him for a hand carved wooden jewelry box back that had been a gift from an older relative. She had had to move out and run while he was at work so she hadn't had time to grab sentimental stuff. He gave her a random cheap wooden jewelry box and claimed that was it. So, she fought for, and was given, his precious boat, which she gave away to the first person to show up and hook up the trailer the second the divorce was final. She hated that boat, but he had spent years taking meticulous care of it, it was still in practically new condition. He was livid.
#41
Man converted all his savings to gold, refused to pay bills or child support and trashed heir house to ensure she never gets a cent. He was deemed a vexatious litigant for all the nonsense he pulled in the actual case to delay the proceedings. And he’s still suing her in other counties.
#42
Not a divorce but fits the theme. My mom died very young my dad remarried. He had 6 kids with his first wife. He was a moderately successful businessman, maybe upper middle class. My dad then died at 51, 3 yrs after he remarried. By law she was entitled to 30% of the estate (which was really a terrible law). But that wasn’t enough for her. So she sues and drags out settling the estate for 2 years because she wants to get more money from 6 orphans.
After two years she loses. And says give me 40% or I will appeal it for another 2 yrs and they settled with her to get rid of her.
#43
Not a lawyer but a court paper pusher.
The couple had divorced and the wife had moved to the opposite coast with the two daughters. The divorce order said the husband was to pay half of the kids' extra curricular and sports costs. The husband dragged the wife into court (she had to pay for that round trip airfare and hotel costs) to argue he didn't think the $3 swim goggles the mom bought were necessary for swim team so he shouldn't have to pay for half the cost. All that over $1.50. That was just so evil and petty. .
#44
My ex kept all of my photo albums from my childhood. I should have known better because he did this to his previous wife as well.
Edited, was supposed to say previous not pervious. Lol!
#45
I used to work with someone whose sister was getting a divorce and the husband burned down the house where his soon-to-be X and his children lived. He was still considered to be an owner of the house, so insurance wouldn’t cover it because they don’t cover it when you burn down your own house. .
#46
Father was not allowed to see his kids due to domestic violence.
Kid (like 4/5 years old) wanted his favourite teddy back from dad who refused because ‘he bought it’.
#47
Not a divorce lawyer but my husband’s dad divorced my MIL when my husband was diagnosed with cancer as a child. She told me she went to one of his chemo appointments and when she returned home there was a brown envelope pushed through the letter box and it was divorce papers.
Especially considering he never once made an effort to come and see his so while he was in hospital. My MIL was a new immigrant to the country, didn’t know English, didn’t have family here etc. whatever differences me and her have, I think what he did to her was pretty cruel. He’s not someone I allow around my child unsupervised. I don’t trust him one bit.
#48
Not a divorce lawyer and don’t know if this belongs here but- my very close school friend moved out of our home country in the fifth grade and moved around a lot, UK, Mauritius, Malaysia and then settled in Australia for good. We stayed in touch through out.
After they moved to Australia, her mom found out that the dad had an active affair in Malaysia and he would visit her on his ‘business trips’. He chose the other woman, got a divorce, moved to Malaysia and started a family with the new woman. My friend and her mom were no contact with the dad since the divorce, he practically abandoned his first daughter.
A few years later, my friend’s mom got diagnosed with terminal cancer and the doctors said she only has a few months. My friend reached out to her dad and asked him to come visit mom on her d***h bed. He refused. She begged him, told him she’d send money or book the tickets but he still refused and asked her to never contact him again because his new wife is against it.
My friend lost her mom and she had to go through the grief alone in a country where she had no family at all.
#49
Not a lawyer but my former accountant told me about a billionaire who kept every single one of his valuable assets inside different LLCs. One for each car, one for the house, etc. It made it wildly impractical to sue for alimony against any of those assets and the billionaire himself owned nothing.
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