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40 Petty But Understandable Reasons That Led Married Couples To Divorce
Interview With Expert
Not all marriages are a match made in heaven, and many end in divorce. A lot of these separations stem from valid reasons like infidelity or irreconcilable differences. However, some are so absurd and petty that you may doubt their authenticity.
To see what I mean, here are some responses to this online thread with the question: “Lawyers of Reddit, what is the pettiest reason you’ve ever seen for divorce?”
A woman wanted out of her marriage because her husband smashed the wedding cake in her face during their reception. Another man filed for divorce after his wife ate the pumpkin Halloween candies he’d been looking forward to all day.
Some of these responses are laughable, while others may make you ask yourself, “What did I just read?” Nonetheless, enjoy scrolling. You will also find our short chat with Emily Beven, an associate of Stowe Family Law, who provided some insights on the topic.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Not divorced, but annulled on their wedding day.
I've told the story a few times on Reddit, so long-story-short-time: She told him several hundred times that if he smashed the cake in her face at the reception, it was over.
He did it, she walked out and had it annulled the next day. This was over 30 years ago, btw.
Shark Lady 1 month ago
Good for her, if he couldn't respect such a small boundary it wouldn't bode well for the future.
RELATED:
#2
So I got married at 18 (same story as most, s****y home life, needed desperately to get out of the house so I married the first guy that came around) and stayed with him until I was 22. I was working one day and he didn't answer any of my texts or calls. Eventually I got an answer and I before I could even say Hey, his response was "what do you want, I'm playing Call of Duty". I left him a week later.
Most of time, the petty reasons are just the straw that breaks the back.
#3
Not a lawyer, but my dad divorced my mom because she didn’t throw enough parties. Now he lives alone. He neither throws nor goes to parties. 🤷♀️.
Lyone Fein 1 month ago
"Entertain me and provide me with my entire social life. And do all the work of putting it together and cleaning up. "
Stowe Family Law is based in the UK, where Beven says people file for divorce for “unreasonable behavior.” Examples include a lack of work-life balance or “differing interests.”
“Some people even went as far as saying their spouse constantly disregarded instructions to wash up or put their laundry away,” Beven told Bored Panda. “Whilst to some, these may seem petty and insignificant, for those couples, this ‘petty’ behavior led to the breakdown of their marriage.”
#4
Not a lawyer but this happened to my wife's cousin.
Her husband came home one day asking her to give a higher financial contribution on the groceries, because she, as a lady, was using more toilet paper than him. She took it as a joke and had a good laugh. He got mad, and asked for divorce.
Worth mentioning that his salary was 3 times higher than her one..
#5
I decided to divorce my first husband when he complained about me buying lunch at McDonald's. He had called me at my office, asked what my lunch plans were, and I said I was meeting my friend Keli at McDonald's. He started complaining about spending money for restaurant food and that I should have packed a lunch from home. We had just that past weekend bought him a new pair of ski boots that cost over $100. It was the final straw. I was unhappy about a few things, that I could have overlooked, but to be LECTURED about spending $6.00 on a burger and fries was just too much. I let him b***h for a few minutes, gently hung up the phone, walked into my manager's office to quit, went home and started packing.
#6
I left my husband because he “nah babe, I got it” -ed me constantly but would never do it. Last straw was him letting our power go out in July when we had a heat wave and our (my) sick dog was stuck in the heat.
Some people may see divorce as an easy way out when the marriage enters a rough patch. Beven describes it as a “mechanism by which you change your circumstances.” That may include the “petty” reasons on this list.
However, going through a divorce is tedious in itself. For one, it can severely affect a person financially.
“Marriage combines assets, divorce separates those, often leaving both people worse off,” Beven pointed out.
#7
Definitely the fridge Story!! A woman filed for divorce because her husband would eat everything he can find in their fridge whenever the wife was out for work. So she came back to an basically empty fridge each night.
He also cheated on her but she was less angry about that. The fridge was what pushed her to the point she wanted a divorce.
#8
Wife wanted divorce like 2 months into marriage because the husband would squeeze the toothpaste from the top and not bottom. She claims to have told him a millions times over to stop. Would have been easier to get 2 toothpastes i thought.
David Paterson 1 month ago
We did get separate toothpastes. Spouse always left the lid off and a huge crust of dried toothpaste around the top.
#9
I’m a lawyer but not that kind. However, my brother’s 4th wife divorced him because she found out the ring he’d used was originally his 3rd wife’s.
They deserved each other.
As of this posting, divorce is illegal in only two countries: the Philippines and the Vatican. Both are heavily influenced by Catholicism and believe in upholding the sanctity of marriage.
But does illegal divorce help prevent people from breaking off from their marriage for the pettiest reasons? Beven says no.
“Divorce accounts for the ebbs and flows of life, and denying this can be dangerous in some cases,” she explained.
#10
Not a lawyer, but I'd like to put forward my own mother's top reason for divorcing my father.
"Farts loudly in public".
#11
I know a guy who was divorced because he said the wrong name at the altar.
#12
My aunt used to work as a divorce lawyer. The worst one was a couple fighting over a hamster (of which took so long the thing died before they were settled). She said it was a bargaining chip to win favor from their children. At that rate just buy another hamster!
UncleJohn3000 1 month ago
I watched a couple waste thousands in their divorce fighting over a broken outdated computer.
As Beven explains, domestic violence is an example of a situation where an individual’s life may be put in danger if divorce is illegal. The mounting tensions in an unhappy marriage may also have a severe negative impact on the children.
“Serious injury, both physical, mental and financial, can ensure and there may be a real risk to life,” she said.
#13
Not a lawyer but my uncle once divorced a woman because she got a surgery and he felt she was being too wimpy about it.
#15
I once had clients who got a divorce because she wanted to buy a condo in Naples, Fl. The petty part of the story is that combined their lawyer fees would have bought a very nice condo on the water in Naples.
Michael Largey 1 month ago
A condo in Naple is something you only use in the winter. But a divorce is something you'll always have.
Ultimately, divorce is an exercise of free will. People may make mistakes when they marry the person they thought was the one for them, but having the option to break it off within a year legally allows them to correct that.
“In a society that promotes autonomy and free will, allowing people to marry and divorce whom and when they want, we are allowing individuals to pursue happiness,” Beven said.
#16
A woman came in wanting to divorce her husband. He had just gotten a new job and a pretty big raise.
It turned out that this new job of his also required that he work from home but he was working in an office before. She was having an affair with their next-door neighbor and him being home more meant that she couldn't cheat on her husband easily.
That was definitely a twist. I was expecting something like him being the one having the affair but nope!
FoxEcoLimaIndiaCharlieIndiAlfa 1 month ago (edited)
I initially thought that she had filed for divorce, shortly after the husband's big promotion and pay raise, so she could get more money out of it. Which is wrong in itself but lazy ho was cheating with the neighbor.
#17
Not a lawyer but a child of divorced parents, my parents divorced because my mum refused to fuel his smoking addiction that he didn’t pay for.
#18
The weirdest I've ever seen is a coworker of mine. His wife saw a picture of him at a pool when he was in high school and really athletic. Toned, muscular, tan and so on. Over the 10 year after high school he stopped lifting and lost his muscle tone and just became skinny.
She told him she wanted him to get back to working out because she really liked the way he once looked and he said it was something he missed doing and agreed to get a gym membership. He was going to the gym four days a week but was only really working out for two of them. On the days he didn't work out he would sit in the sauna to get sweaty, watch Netflix and then go home.
When she asked about him going to the gym and accidentally let it slip that he was fudging workouts twice a week. She apparently found that to be a deal breaker and filed for divorce.
LakotaWolf (she/her) 1 month ago
So... she loved him and how he looked enough to marry him, but the second she saw a photo of him back when he was more fit/buff, she wanted him to look that way? That photo isn't even of the man she married, so to speak. As an aside, my ex used to push me to exercise and get into shape because my body disgusted him. I was stupid and I stayed, but eventually started lying about my workouts (I HATE exercise.) Please don't try to force your fitness habits/preferences onto others - that will only cause resentment and misery.
#19
A client and his wife came in regarding a real estate transaction. At the end of the consultation, the client casually stated that he would like to divorce his wife. I was stunned, the wife started crying, the client started rubbing his wife's shoulder and told her that everything would be okay. That was an awkward few minutes.
#20
Not me, but a family member (who is an attorney) had someone call her Day 4 of the lock downs saying "I have been stuck with my wife for 4 days, and I need a divorce".
#21
Not a lawyer, but I'd have to say my divorce was kinda petty. She decided a year and a half after she kicked me out she should divorce me because I didn't come crawling back to her. Funny as she realized too late that when she kicked me out, she didn't have any income.
#22
Not a lawyer, but I figure my divorce attorney thought my ex-wife's reason was pretty petty: "he refuses to get rid of his cat and the dog we adopted together".
#23
Grocery costs, literally thought it was a joke or code for something. Turned out she came from a tight budget family and thought he was so wasteful with his paycheck when he bought ribs once a month.
#24
Not a lawyer, but my mom's coworker divorced over dishes in the dishwasher. The wife would get so frustrated over the husband (coworker) not rinsing dishes before he loads them in the dishwasher. To compromise, they bought a super nice, top-of-the-line dishwasher. Solves the problem, right? She yelled about the dishes that night. He filed for divorce the next day
Shark Lady 1 month ago
Rinsing dishes before putting them in the dishwasher can stop the dish detergent from working as well as it should.
#25
My client’s wife asked for a divorce after he refused to pay $52,000 per semester for their daughter to go to the private highschool the wife had gone to as a child.
#26
NAL but I know someone who claims she divorced her husband because he wouldn't quit smoking (he smoked before they were married). Turned out she was cheating.
FoxEcoLimaIndiaCharlieIndiAlfa 1 month ago (edited)
The lies and hoops that some people choose to jump through instead of facing the truth head on, says a lot about one's character, IMHO. If you're no longer in love with your spouse and feel the need to sleep with someone else, please just let your spouse know or file for divorce/separation, before doing so.
#27
A man wanted a divorce from his wife because — and he gave this example as the "last straw" — his wife ate those nasty pumpkin Halloween candies, like candy corn but pumpkin-shaped. He had been looking forward to them all day, and when he got home, she had eaten them all. He snapped
#28
My dad listed that my mom alluded to him being a homosexual as one of his reasons for divorce and considering he’s a far right wing homophobic church fanatic….And it was the year 2019 … I just loved that being a reason on legal paperwork just soooo much.
#29
My dad was a lawyer, not me. He once told me that a divorce came in because the wife would just scream at the top of her lungs randomly.
Lyone Fein 1 month ago (edited)
I'm going to guess it wasn't random, but he didn't want to work through the issues she was raising.
#30
She hated his cat... which he had before they got married. Ended up costing them more than $20,000 in fees because they were both petty over the cat.
#31
Not a lawyer, paralegal. Someone came in for a divorce because their soon to be ex changed the password on their phone. Plaintiff had always had the code to get in, but now they didn't. Divorce time.
#32
Not a lawyer- but apparently my brother divorced his wife when McDonald’s forgot to put bbq sauce in with her chicken nuggets at the drive through and she asked him to go back and get some. He didn’t and then I guess she started smashing up food and throwing it at him/out the window….. so yeah…. McDonalds how could you ruin a marriage 😅…….
#33
Friend’s wife is a marriage counselor. She had this couple coming in trying to work things out before a divorce. The husband went non-stop on why he wanted the divorce. She said two incidents really stuck with her. The first was the husband was doing some yard work and asked the wife to carry some twigs he trimmed from some bushes.
He grabs a huge stack and lugs them over the the pile he was going to mulch. Wife just grabs a couple of sticks. He asked if she could carry more than that and she picked up a couple of more sticks. She said the husband emphasized the word “couple”!
The second was the wife told her husband that they had finally gotten to a point in finances where they could buy a new vehicle. The husband said he was excited and sat down with his wife to price vehicles. The husband said every one he showed her was out of their budget. He became extremely frustrated and asked what the budget was. She replied $2,000. That was the tipping point for the divorce!
#34
Not a lawyer but my neighbors got divorced because one wanted a dog so badly and the other one refused to even considerate it.
#35
I had a client who with his wife were into a computer game like the Sims only more x rated, I think it was called Second Life, where you have an avatar and can interact with other people's avatars. He suspected his wife of, through her avatar, hijinks and made his own avatar to stalk her in the game. Sure enough her avatar was doing the dirty with some dude's avatar. That was it for my client.
#36
Pam Anderson and Kid Rock simply put ‘Borat’ as the reason for their divorce. I’d say thats gotta be up there.
#37
Not a lawyer, but one of my philosophy professors (now ex-professor) and his wife got a divorce because he tried to exorcise her. The Christian school didn’t take it well and he is no longer a professor there. Well, actually, the couple was getting a divorce due to the wife having a year-long affair with a professor of the rival school across the street. The attempted exorcism didn’t help matters, though.
Edit: Since several people seem interested, the exorcism didn’t work, according to said professor. The couple got a divorce, the professor got some custody of the kids, got screwed in the money matters, and now his ex-wife and kids are moving to Ohio (I guess the thing with the rival school’s professor didn’t work out for the ex-wife?) while his oldest daughter is preparing to go to the school he used to teach at this fall. Poor girl has to pay her way now, when she planned for most of her life on going for free.
The whole story was pretty big for a while at school. The professor went to jail illegally for like a month without any accusation against him because he answered a phone call from one of his super young daughters. His wife had filed a protection order for herself, not the children, and the campus police took him away, even though he didn’t answer the call on campus. It was a whole scandal and the school was involved way more than it legally should have been. Super weird stuff. According to this professor, the president of the school was demon-possessed and that accounted for the whole thing. It gave a portion of the student body something to covertly argue over for a couple weeks.
#38
Not a lawyer but I heard some gossip from my neighbors that apparently one of their relatives couldn’t stand their wife’s cold feet at night, and it got so bad that they each took turns sleeping on the sofa.
The couple couldn’t afford a bigger space and held it off for so long because of fear of ruining their reputation. Now they’re divorced and looking for people with tolerable body temperatures 😬.
#39
I know a guy who divorced his wife bc she refused to learn to cook a certain fish dish his mom used to cook lol.
#40
Well My cousins dad is a lawyer and he once saw a couple divorce after 12 years because "he smells".
What do you think ?
Melissa Harris 1 month ago
What I'm taking away is that most divorces are caused by built-up resentments and poor communication. And people will use the flimsiset of excuses to cover cheating.
🇳🇬 Asi Bassey 🇳🇬 1 month ago
The title (about red neck engineering) and thread (silliest reasons for divorce) do mot match.
Sreelakshmi Arun 1 month ago
Don't know what's going on here... Maybe they copy-pasted the wrong title? Screenshot...0e7efa.png 
Melissa Harris 1 month ago
What I'm taking away is that most divorces are caused by built-up resentments and poor communication. And people will use the flimsiset of excuses to cover cheating.
🇳🇬 Asi Bassey 🇳🇬 1 month ago
The title (about red neck engineering) and thread (silliest reasons for divorce) do mot match.
Sreelakshmi Arun 1 month ago
Don't know what's going on here... Maybe they copy-pasted the wrong title? Screenshot...0e7efa.png
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