Divorce is a very difficult and distressing life-event, and people are quite often emotionally fragile and hurt; sometimes this leads to anger and the inability to think clearly, and logic and common sense often disappear out of the window. Anyone who has been divorced will likely have a story to tell that will make people gasp in surprise, but some disputes and demands made during the divorce are extraordinary. Here is a small selection:

The casserole dish

A divorcing couple had almost sorted out their division of assets and belongings save for a single casserole dish. It was not valuable and held no sentimental value to either the wife or the husband. For some reason, the husband decided that he wanted the casserole dish and proceeded to send his wife a number of aggressive letters about the ovenware. Eventually, she got so fed up with his constant demands, she took an axe to the dish, chopped it in half, swept up half the broken bits into a box, gift-wrapped the box and handed them to the husband. He never mentioned the casserole dish again.

The Felt-Tip pens

In the midst of a protracted and bitter divorce dispute, the wife’s solicitor sent a strongly worded letter to the husband, demanding the immediate return of some felt-tip pens. The husband obliged; the felt-tip pens had dried out long ago and were of no use to him anyway.

An unreasonable demand

A husband who had paid for his wife to have breast augmentation demanded that the wife have her breast implants removed and that they would each retain one implant. His reasoning was that as he had paid for them, and they cost several thousand pounds, they should be classed as a marital asset. In the end, he was able to see how unreasonable his demand was, and the wife kept her implants.

“Till death do us part”

In 2007, a wife decided to divorce her husband after being married 26 years. He did not want to divorce and came up with a reason why they could not; he claimed that they could not get divorced because their marriage had already been dissolved some three years earlier when he had “died”.

The husband claimed that after his heart stopped in 2004, this temporary death was enough to end their marriage on the clause of “Till Death Do Us Part”. He cited two additional examples of his death, one more time in 2004 and once again in 2005. The argument didn’t convince anyone, and the couple were duly divorced a short time later.

A valuable gift indeed

A wife was very ill due to kidney failure. Her husband was a perfect match as a donor and donated one of his kidneys to his wife, thus saving her life. Unfortunately, the marriage later failed due to the wife having an affair, and they began divorce proceedings. As part of the settlement, the husband insisted on having his kidney returned to him; his solicitor explained that this would not be possible, so instead he asked for $1.5 million, which was the estimated cost of a healthy kidney on the black market. The Court ruled that the donated kidney was a gift, and his claim was dismissed.

Don’t hassle the Hoff

When the well-known actor and singer David Hasselhoff and his then-wife, Pamela Bach, divorced, he insisted that he kept the rights to the trademarked slogan “Don’t Hassle the Hoff” and the terms “The Hoff” and “Malibu Dave” as part of their divorce settlement.

He’s no Christian Grey

A wife who had been an avid reader of the erotic novels “Fifty Shades of Grey” suggested to her husband of many years that they try to spice up their sex life, after being inspired by the graphic content of the books. He refused her advances, she petitioned him for divorce, citing his “low libido” as well as actually referencing extracts of the books in the divorce particulars.

The feline fanatic

 A man whose wife adopted 550 cats eventually had enough of the feline take-over of his home.  The cats filled every room, and his wife was spending a large portion of his income on cat food than on food for the couple. After seeing some of the cats steal food from his plate on the table, he realised he had had enough and divorced his cat-loving wife. He didn’t ask for any of the cats as part of the divorce settlement.

A 50/50 split

A separated couple in Cambodia wished to avoid the lengthy and costly Cambodian divorce process, and following an argument, the husband took some tools and physically divided the house with each spouse keeping half. The land the couple owned was also split into four parts: two for their children, and two for them. The husband then had the task of rebuilding his half of the house on another plot of land.

If you are experiencing unreasonable demands or a difficult divorce, our expert divorce solicitors are able to advise and help you. You can also arrange a free telephone consultation with a divorce advisor. Please call 0845 388 3765 or use our online contact form to speak to someone today.

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