People Share The Most Outrageous Reasons Someone Got Divorced

Marriage is supposed to mean “happily ever after”, right? When people exchange vows on their wedding day, they pledge to love each other “for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; until death do us part.”

Sometimes it all works out, and it’s wonderful. And sometimes it doesn’t, and that’s ok. Often couples will end up suffering big breakdowns in their relationships: one partner may have an affair or be abusive, or the couple may fall out of love with each other.

But sometimes, marriages end for slightly more … unbelievable reasons. Can you imagine divorcing your spouse because you can’t agree what to name the cat? What about because you like a lamp switched on at night and your partner doesn’t?

In this article, divorce lawyers and others share the most outrageous reasons people have ended their marriages. Have a read – you won’t believe some of the excuses!

34. When Your Wife Can’t Actually Cook…

“Not a Lawyer, but my father’s best friend divorced his wife over her cooking. Apparently, everyday he would come home to amazing cooked meals. She couldn’t cook at all and was ordering food from different restaurants.

She even went as far as dirtying pots and pans to make it look like she cooked all day. She got away with this for almost a year before he caught on. This was back in the day before you could check your bank statements online, and since she did all the billing, he didn’t notice how much money was missing from her spending on take out.” Kratsas

33. The Husband Chose The Dog, Then The Wife Gets It Put Down

“I know a guy that got a divorce because he got a dog and his wife didn’t want to have to take care of it. She actually said it was her or the dog. He chose the dog.

Then weirdly they got back together, remarried because he’s an idiot. He took a job on the road and she had the dog put down when he was gone because it reminded her ‘of their failed marriage.’ Needless to say, he divorced her again because she was crazy. She also then took everything in the divorce.” ryhno44

32. This Wife Divorced Her Husband Because He Didn’t Want To Watch A New Anime Series

“Dumbest reason my friend got divorced was because he didn’t like the same anime she did.

They both started off liking anime and video games, but as time went on, he got older and wanted to do newer things. She just sat around watching new series, reading manga, etc. She did nothing with her expensive graphic design degree.

When she told him to watch the new series and he refused, she apparently flew into a rage and stomped out of the house and got divorce papers sent to him.

My friend was more happy than sad because he bought us all drinks the next time the group went out.” Lady_Otaku

31. This Woman Actually Divorced Her Husband Because His Chest Wasn’t Hairy Enough…

It’s 2019, and times have certainly changed. As well as our values! Guaranteed it would be the other way around now – less hair and more Insta followers!

“My dad was a divorce lawyer. He had a client who wanted to divorce her husband for 2 reasons:

1. He did not have enough hair on his chest.
2. He did not drive fast enough.

Keep in mind this was in the 70s when chest hair was a bit more important.” Bodhi_ZA

30. My Aunt’s Husband Wouldn’t Leave After A Huge Fight Over House Plants

“My aunt was dating an unemployed dude for a while. He was staying in her house rent-free. They got married and were getting ready to go on the honeymoon when the new husband tells her he’s not going because he has to take care of his plants at the house. Big fight. Aunt goes on the honeymoon with her sisters instead.

She comes home and tries to kick him out of her house, he refuses to leave. She tries to get the police involved. Dude is live-streaming on Facebook how he is being trapped in his own home. Police tell my aunt there is basically nothing they can do. They can file for eviction after a divorce. Dude gets to live in her house with his precious plants for like 3 months until everything legally gets worked out.” Anon

29. My Client Accidentally Told His Wife He Wanted A Second Will Without Her In It

“Paralegal, here. There are so many crazy divorces, and it brings out the absolute worst in couples. When thinking of reasons a divorce started, this one stands out to me the most:

At my last firm, we did general law, which included probate. A couple did their will with our firm. We drafted everything. They were mid-70s to early 80s. Married 40 years total. Divorced and remarried once. Husband wanted us to put in his will that his kids get his entire estate, but did not want us to tell his wife. He wanted to have us make a secret will and a fake will. The fake will would be signed with her present, and then he wanted us to shred it and he will come in later to sign the ‘real will.’ He copied his wife on the email that had all of this information disclosed in it.

2 weeks later he called us and said he wanted to file for divorce instead.” PetiteChaos

28. When It’s The Mom Who Really Wants A Divorce…

“Kind of in the same category. I’ve had a lot of younger male potential clients come in for divorce consults with their mother. Then, during the consult, the mother does 98% of the talking, and it’s clear who actually wants the divorce (I’ll usually escort Mom to wait in the lobby while I talk to the son directly, and most of the time he’s just there to appease his mother).

On a related note, I once had just the mother call for a consult because she said explicitly she wanted her son to get a divorce. I politely informed her that’s not how divorces worked…” Elle_Woods

27. When You Just Can’t Agree On Raising Your… Cat

“Paralegal. A couple got divorced over a cat. Wife called cat Snowball because of white fur and only wanted the cat to eat wet food or chicken breast. Husband called cat Lily again because of white fur and believed it should only eat dry food. These two argued for a year over custody of the cat but did not give a hoot about their human kids aged 15 months, 4 years, and 6 years old.” sxcamaro

26. She Stayed With Him To Collect His Life Insurance

“Not necessarily the most outrageous reason, but definitely some outrageous conduct.

The saddest divorce we were hired to do (but ended up not doing for reasons that’ll become apparent), was a woman in her fifties whose husband had really just let himself go. He was over 400 lbs, just did his third triple bypass, refused to do ANYTHING different, just smoked and drank all day long while watching TV. His doctors told him he was going to die in six months if he didn’t change his behavior. He told them they were all morons and could go to ****.

Meanwhile, his wife is this successful woman who makes over $10k a month on her HOBBY, while making six figures in her normal work.

She lost all respect for him, all desire, and all love for him by watching his decline. For the past few years, she can barely stand him. It also sounded like there was some verbal abuse going on where he constantly accused her of cheating and gaslighting her while cheating himself throughout their marriage (And spending all his money on *******, the usual). His accusations ramped up considerably once she lost about 200 lbs the good ole fashioned way.

We were working on her divorce and one of her provisions was that he keep her as the beneficiary on his life insurance (for obvious reasons). She assured us he would agree to everything she suggested in the paperwork if she talked him through it.

One day, we get an email from her saying to halt the divorce. Not because they were reconciling, but because he refused to keep her as the beneficiary on his life insurance if they divorced. So, she stopped the divorce. So that she could get the benefits when he inevitably dies in a few months.

We’ve had one where the opposing party (husband) found out his old wife (late 70’s) was terminally ill. He started using EVERY tactic in the book to delay the final hearing so that she would die before their divorce was finalized and he wouldn’t have to lose anything.

We just got another where the couple agreed to everything beforehand, signed documents, agreed to dissolution and how to share custody. Now, the husband has a vengeance ***** and wants to trash the dissolution, take everything from her, and take away their kid from her. Why?

Because she told him no when he asked for their kid a full day and night ahead of schedule when she had already made plans with the kid.” rivlet

25. She Divorced Her Husband To Get His Beach House

“Law clerk for a family law judge. I’m an attorney, just fresh out of law school last year. The case that comes to mind is this husband who thinks he has a great marriage with his wife. For her birthday, she asks for him to put her name on the title of the beach house they spend summers at. The husband’s mom gifted the house to the husband, so at divorce, the wife doesn’t get to touch it. But since she asked him to put her name on the title, she now has legal rights to it.

One week after he did that, she filed for divorce and was shacking up with her boyfriend that she had had for a couple months. There were so many red flags that the husband should have seen. The wife was losing lots of weight, he was fat and not a looker. There were others that I can’t remember. In the end, she got the house after a judgment notwithstanding the verdict was granted in her favor. Basically, that means that after a jury trial for fraud (they did this fraud case before the divorce to determine who had title to the house), the jury found in favor of the husband, but her attorneys filed a motion and the judge overturned the verdict. Crazy stuff, I’ve never seen it happen since.” jorgendude

24. My 90-year-old Client Thought His Wife Was Hiding Money From Him

“My 90-year-old client (the husband) and his son retained me to initiate divorce proceedings with his 88-year-old wife. They’d been married 60 years. The wife had recently taken to beating him with his own cane because their daughter poisoned her into thinking he was hiding money from them. The battle came down to husband and son versus wife and daughter.

At their first court appearance, my client showed up in an old 1950s style pinstripe suit and fedora. He was a farmer his whole life, and this was clearly the only suit he owned. He was such a meek and lovely old gentleman.

I had to pass my client onto a new lawyer midway through the proceedings because I accepted a job in a different country, but I understand the divorce was eventually granted.” Horrified_Witness

23. Her Adult Movie Star Husband Cheated On Her With A Man

“I represented an adult entertainment actress/webcam model who filed for divorce from her husband who also did the adult entertainment/webcam model business himself. He would do gay productions on the side because the pay was better. She was hesitant about it but dealt with it because the pay was decent. Both sides had an agreement that it wasn’t cheating as long as it was for work.

One day she came home early and found her husband in bed with two men and they were not filming. That was too much for her. Needless to say, the old conservative judge couldn’t wrap his head around this one.” FearTheChive

22. A Wife Divorced Her Husband After A Grizzly Bear Attack

“When I clerked for a judge, we had a week-long divorce trial between a couple. The husband was a wildlife photographer and the wife was a stay-at-home wife (no kids) who helped ‘remodel’ the home. Anyway, the husband was mauled by a grizzly bear he was photographing, spent several months in the hospital and rehab and was served papers shortly after getting out, now without an eye and with severe scarring on his face and side. She wanted half of everything. The non-scarred half at least.” Mehndeke

21. Wife Hosts Facebook Video Party Next To Son’s Hospital Bed When The Husband Asks For A Divorce On The Spot

“Not an attorney, but a coworker of mine a few years ago divorced his wife because she got really into Lularoe (multi-leveled marketing that sells women’s apparel) and emptied out all their savings, including their son’s college fund to support her ‘business.’

That wasn’t actually the ‘make or break’ part of their marriage. Their son badly injured his shoulder playing football and needed surgery. While he was in the hospital for said surgery, she hosted some kind of Facebook video party on her laptop, AT THE HOSPITAL, with recovering son in the background, to sell more leggings. Husband walked in, saw what was happening, and asked for a divorce right then and there.

I think the son was sleeping the whole time so he didn’t witness it. But yeah. Imagine going into surgery, waking up and your parents are divorcing.” WeddingElly

20. My Client Divorced His Wife When She Ran Off With Their Drug Dealer

“Divorce Lawyer in London. I had a client who indulged in some recreational drug use. His dealer lives in the same apartment building as him.

Went down one day to pick up some of those sweet, sweet *****. When drug dealer (female) came to the door he could hear his wife in the background.

Turns out that his wife also liked the high life and was getting her fix with the neighborhood dealer. But it doesn’t end there, because they all get on so well they start having parties and hanging out.

A couple of months go by and the wife comes home and says she is leaving him to be in a full-time same-sex relationship with the dealer!

Dude is now stressed AF but he can’t score anymore from his dealer who stole his missus!”DJ88Gre88

19. This Wife Was Kidnapped And Her Husband Refused To Pay The Ransom

“She was kidnapped in Mexico and he refused to pay the ransom. Eventually, her family managed to pay and she was left on the side of the road. It is not outrageous as in petty but outrageous as how absurd that is.

I don’t know how much they wanted as ransom. But it was substantial as the conversation between her family and him was how he had it liquid and they had to liquidate investments to get that amount. She may have told me, she may not. Something in pesos and I didn’t know the conversion rate, it was all a random number to me. This happened about 7 years ago.

He wasn’t with her on the trip. She was travelling with cousins and went downstairs alone to get ice cream and wait for them to get ready.

I do not know all the details. She was extremely distraught talking about it and it was not necessary to pry. It was clearly traumatic and even tough I had a million more questions I left it alone.” Mennej

18. The Husband Couldn’t Sleep With The Light On And The Wife Couldn’t Sleep In the Dark 

“I knew a guy from a high school job who divorced his wife of 2 months because she would sleep with a nightlight but he could only sleep in total darkness, as they apparently never lived together until after getting married. He hated her nightlight so much that he would often sleep on the couch instead, but sometimes he would claim the bed for himself and lock her out of the bedroom for the night.

This was an eccentric late 40s man working at Burger King who acted like all the other high school coworkers were his best chums, and often told us these weird stories. I’m glad I don’t work with him anymore.” yeerk_slayer

17. When Your Husband Treats Your Inner Ear Condition With Exorcisms…

“Failed exorcisms. The client had an inner ear condition that caused chronic vertigo, but symptoms could be treated with medication. The husband was an evangelical who was convinced his wife 1) had become possessed and that her vertigo and general crankiness with his methods were evidence of demonic possession, 2) the medications she was taking was enabling the devil to hide inside her, and 3) the only proper recourse was an exorcism. He would hide her meds until she got dizzy and then try various methods of exorcism. This included:

Sweating it out (put under blankets while incapacitated and locked in a room full of space heaters)

Freezing it out (pretty much the reverse with AC, fans, and bags of ice)

Surprising it out (he would jump out and scare her like it was the hiccups, but instead of yelling ‘Boo!’ he would recite the Lord’s Prayer or Psalms)

The final straw was that he tried to ‘surprise it out of her’ by pushing her down the stairs when they were heading out for dinner.

This guy was some type of executive and they still went out to dinner after the stairs incident. She asked for the divorce at an Applebee’s that night. I have often tried to picture that conversation, as she was adamant that he was a total sweetheart and never acted out of malice or anger.” queequeg789

16. A Post-Wedding Family Fight That Ended It All

“Knew a couple who were married for only a few hours.

Bride’s side of the family was being disrespectful to the grooms side at the reception.

He brought this up on the way to the hotel after the reception which caused a heated argument. Bride calls up her family who arrive at the hotel and start a fight with the groom in the lobby. Groom called his side of the family as well. Hotel lobby turned into a screaming match field and they separated there and then.

It was such an extravagant wedding. What a waste.” Wogachino

15. “She Threw A Tampon At Me”

“I’m an intern but the judge I work for used to do divorce work. He has some crazy stories but this one is probably the most outrageous, though the divorce was pretty justified. Every morning this couple would sit in the bathroom together while one of them had their morning dump. One would sit on the toilet and the other on the rim of the bathtub. This particular morning the wife was on the toilet and husband on the edge of the tub. They started to argue about their relationship so the wife reaches down, pulls her tampon out and flings it at the husband. I’m told the tampon stuck for a brief second to his forehead before sliding off. He filed for divorce that same day or the next.” terrythegnome

14. When Jell-O Becomes “Spousal Abuse”

“I’m not a divorce lawyer, but the parents of one of my high school friends had a pretty ridiculous reason.

His dad was using the stove to make Jell-O. His mom said Jell-O is too fattening and tried to grab the pan out of his hand to dump it down the sink. He pulled the pan back while she was trying to snatch it, and she called that act of refusing to throw out the Jell-O ‘spousal abuse.’ He packed his bag and left that night and moved to a town 1,500 miles away where he knew literally no one, just to get away from her. They had been married for over 20 years, and I think that was just the last straw.

As with any of these cases, though, there’s probably more going on behind the scenes that no one outside the marriage ever knows about.” Andrado

13. The Wife Spoke French So Her Husband Couldn’t Understand

“Friend of mine divorced his then-wife because she would only speak French when her family would come over. She was Spanish, as was her family.

To add, her family spoke English, French and Spanish, he could only speak Spanish and English, she got bored of being married to him, her family basically talked smack about him whilst he was there, was only when he recorded a conversation whilst they where there and got it translated that he found out what was going on.” StanMarsh01

12. Guy Says He’s In College But His Wife Gets A Shock When She Turns Up On Campus

“Not a divorce lawyer and this isn’t so outrageous as it is mysterious:

I had a friend that was married for almost a year while they were in college (different schools in the same town). One day later in the school year, she had a day off and decided to surprise her husband with lunch after one of his classes.

Except he wasn’t there. And never had been. He wasn’t enrolled in school at all, despite having withdrawn the money for tuition and books, etc. He never would say what he was doing or where the money was and it, unsurprisingly, ended in divorce.” AwesomeVolkner

11. She Didn’t Like How He Signed Her Birthday Cards

“Not a lawyer, but this is a family story. My great grandmother was filing for divorce when my great grandfather died. She lived another 15 years out of spite, terrified of dying because our religion taught us that ‘what is bound on Earth is bound in Heaven,’ and since he died before it was finalized, she was afraid of spending eternity with him. After 40 years together everyone was surprised, and eventually, my cousin asked why she hated him so much.

It was because every birthday card, anniversary card, Mother’s Day card, and Valentine’s card was signed, ‘From your husband, Firstname Middlename Lastname II.’ She felt like it was impersonal and pompous of him, but never even told him she didn’t like it.

I don’t even remember him, but later learned he was incredibly racist. I feel sorry for her anxiety that last decade or two.” christinaymt

10. He Was So Tight With Money, He’d Hand Out Toilet Paper By The Square

“My client was the outrageous one, so my heart went out to his poor wife. He had OCD which manifested primarily financially, so he made their lives a penny-pinching ****.

Examples: He was obsessed with avoiding unnecessary driving (wear and tear on the car, gas expenses), so he cut the whole family’s hair at home and never let them eat at a restaurant or go to the movies. Weirdest of all: He kept one toilet paper roll on him at all times and you had to get one square from him before you could go to the bathroom. He never gave more than one square. Wife finally got fed up and left him when 1) he gave her bangs during an in-home haircut and 2) their daughter was so traumatized by the toilet paper thing they couldn’t potty train her.

He HATED paying his divorce lawyer bill. He was also an old-fashioned mega-catholic who considered divorce a deadly sin. He viewed my whole job as an unnecessary (and sinful) expense.” Julietcaravello1

9. His Mother Still Treated Him Like A Child

“Not me, but a friend of my mum divorced her husband because his mother still coddled him at age 40, with his consent. They lived with his mother (common in Asia).

By coddle, I mean that she would walk straight into their room after his shower and powder his back for him.

They couldn’t lock their bedroom door because his mother would come in whenever she wanted. If they locked the door, she would knock repeatedly asking what they were doing.

Lol what would they be possibly doing??? Playing poker???” doublechocolatecooky

8. She Left Him Over His Skid Marks

“I was involved in a case where a lady was pursuing a case for ‘Unreasonable Behaviour’ because her then-husband on going to bed, would stand at the foot of the bed, dropping his trousers and pants (nothing wrong, there), then bend double to step out of his underwear (nice view, still reasonable though), sit on the bed, then slide up the bed, with his back to her. She had noticed that after a couple of days, brown streaks would appear, in parallel lines, going up the quilt…

When she showed her husband ‘the evidence’, he stated, ‘Those are scorch marks from ironing!’ She proceeded to remove said scorch marks, with a damp cloth, saying, ‘Scorch marks do not wipe off!’ This brought some laughter in the court, especially when the gentlemen admitted that he used only a small amount of toilet paper because ‘his poo was always hard and Never runny.’ It turned out that the gentleman was something of a ‘miser.’ He would go around the house, turning the heating down and the lights off. The children jokingly called him P.O.P, which was a reference to him repeatedly telling them that he hardly ever used more than one square of toilet paper… P.O.P was short for ‘Percy One Piece.’ Again, stifled laughter was audible in the courtroom and the Judge felt it necessary to cover his smiling mouth with a handkerchief!” glibmanoeuvrE72

7. Guy Drinks One Beer, Woman Wants Divorce

“I do my student practice at my family’s law firm. Young woman filed for a divorce because her husband drank ONE beer during weekdays after a day of work. The guy wasn’t violent, doing *****, or anything like that. He was just a normal, polite guy who liked to have a cold one after 10 hr shift. They are a very good couple and argue so rarely that this woman’s friends told her to write down everything he did to upset her and re-read it every day, so she had reasons to be angry about.

My mom (lawyer) set the woman straight, told her he’ s just doing what all guys do and to find herself new friends instead of ones ready to sabotage their marriage.” thefammefatale

6. She Divorced Him When She Was Old Enough To Drink Alone In A Bar

“A friend of mine got married when she was 19 so she could drink at the bar (in Wisconsin you can drink underage with a parent or a spouse). Then when she turned 21 she got a divorce since she was legal to drink w/o him. Seems like an easy in and out transaction but oh no. The biggest item they fought over was the garage beer refrigerator. Go figure.” itslooseseal

5. This Guy Prefers Rocks Over His Wife 

“For most outrageous, two clients take the case. Mine was the wife of a rock hound who loved geodes more than her. After a brief conversation with the husband, turns out that was true. He gave her everything, except for the rock collection.

The second tiebreaker was my partner at the same firm. A man came in for a consultation extremely emotionally. She. Couldn’t. Load. The. Dishwasher!!!! It was enough to leave. Officially it finalized as irreconcilable differences, but he was still torqued the actual reason couldn’t be because of her inability to properly load the dishwasher.” OmhHertz

4. She Was After His Money But Messed With The Wrong Family

“He got drunk at the wedding, she did not like it, and decided to divorce him right after the Honeymoon (which she went to without him).

Moreover, this was all an elaborate scheme of divorce-robbery, because the guy was loaded, and so was his entire family. They were loaded because they were a family of EXCELLENT lawyers, and he was a third-generation lawyer, with all the smarts and experience of his predecessors combined.

Let’s just say it did not go well for her.” freevoulous

3. They Couldn’t Agree Which Church To Attend, So They Divorced 

“My father did family law for around a decade. His first clients were a deeply religious couple; the husband was a Baptist, the wife a Lutheran.

They agreed to attend the Lutheran service one week and the Baptist the next, repeated until they decided which was right. Well, after a year they still disagreed and had stopped attending services together. When they came to my father, they had already decided who would get what and had a very extensive list detailing everything –  the house, furniture, specific plates, financials, individual books, their cat… They didn’t argue over or dispute anything (at least, not in front of him), and it was one of the smoothest cases my father dealt with.

The dumbest reason he’s heard was a husband claiming his wife was the cause of his erectile dysfunction. Turns out he was having an affair with another man and his wife came home early on his day off…” neighbourhood_menace

2. Simply-put, The Farts Were Too Much

“When I took Family Law, we read a case where a woman filed for a fault-based divorce (as opposed to no-fault; fault-based gives the wronged party better terms of divorce) on the grounds of excessive flatulence. It stuck with me all these years because I sent the case summary I prepared for class to my then-fiancé (now husband) who has a food-sensitivity that he blatantly ignores and has awful gas and other ‘digestive issues’ as a result. Does that count?” Darialauren19

1. This Husband Didn’t Know His Wife Had A Secret Until The Wedding Night

“I’m not a lawyer but my old neighbor met a woman online. He always talked about her and how pretty she was yadda yadda…so finally he moves her in. She was from Idaho or something but anyway they ended up getting married a couple of months later. I was invited but I didn’t go.

For some context, before that, they had never slept together (this is important) because she said she was ‘saving herself’ for marriage. So the night of the wedding, all of the sudden, I hear ‘YOU SON O*F A **** I’LL KILL YOU!’ so I go outside to see what’s going on, only to see them both naked in his lawn and she had (you guessed it) a weiner. He filed for divorce shortly after and moved because I guess he was embarrassed.” kyskennie

Some of these go from the obvious to the obscene! They escalate so quickly, you just can’t possibly see ’em coming! Got any you’d like to share? Tell us everything!