Divorce lawyers share the most shocking things couples hid from each other
You never know quite what’s going on in the lives of those around you, do you? Often when we hear of a friend or acquaintance getting divorced, the first response is, “why?” Chances are, you’ll get the generic “irreconcilable differences” excuse, but when you delve deeper, who knows what you could find.
Well, wonder no more. A recent “Ask Reddit” thread has offered us nosy people a look into some of the most bizarre things couples have kept from each other from the lawyers closest to the cases, and some of the revelations are utterly unbelievable.
1. A whole lot of property
“The husband in a very high stakes divorce managed to hide two apartment complexes, an ocean-front penthouse in a very expensive city, and an offshore oil rig that were held in two offshore companies that the wife did not know about. It only came out very recently, about two decades later when husband died and left some of that property to their two sons (who were able to see the property histories).” – andyjams
2. Lottery winnings
“Not a lawyer, but my husband's uncle (they're close to the same age) 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 $5000 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
3. A massive fortune
“In Australia, a divorcing husband hid $10+ million by making an over payment to the tax office, auditors thought it was a tax payment but six months later it was refunded with base interest rate. Since then auditors have caught on to this.” – Syidd
4. No marriage to begin with
“Guy doesn't want to break up with his girlfriend, she keeps nagging him about marriage but he doesn't want to marry her. So he tells her they'll have a 'destination wedding' on a tropical island with a local ceremony and it will be very romantic. And they do. Except he just hired some resort staff to pretend to officiate a marriage ceremony and no marriage contract was ever drawn up. Guy dies years later, 'wife' finds out she was never married and is not in the will.” – Mtlguy
5. Two other families
“East coast husband had a listed income of $1.5 million. Cheated on wife 10 times. Almost at the end of the divorce process it was learned that 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 the double life? Seattle wife posted a picture on Facebook and tagged him with his west coast name. East coast wife similarly posted a photograph of him – 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 the Czech Republic and moved there to avoid family court – and is currently being pursued for extradition.” – Cold_Zero
Wow. The lengths people will go to just to hold onto their fortune! Tell us in the comments below, what’s most bizarre divorce story you’ve ever heard?