'[He] divorced his wife... because she would sleep with a nightlight': 20+ Outrageous reasons couples chose to divorce

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Oct 1, 2024 11:00 AM EDT

Divorce lawyers have heard every reason in the book for why couples have decided to call it quits. It's different for every person—the final straw for one married couple could be something major or something very minor. U/dankph went to the r/AskReddit community to collect some intriguing stories, with divorce lawyers, divorcees, and family members all chiming into tell the story of the most outrageous divorces they've ever encountered. 

Living with someone before marriage is a fantastic idea for many people. That way, you won't wind up like the guy from the title of this article, who divorced his wife because she needed to sleep with a nightlight, while he needed a completely darkened room to get any sleep. If only they'd thought of this before spending thousands on a wedding and legally binding themselves together…There's always next time, I suppose! 

Another couple broke up because one of them kept playing video games too much. Once again, if they lived together, the spouse would realize if their partner liked to spend their entire weekend gaming. At least in that person's new place, they'll have plenty of room to build a gaming den for one. 

After you check out these excellent break up stories, read about these people who had some tough days at work, like one person who revealed they "Just lost thousands of dollars worth of product at work. Most likely getting fired."

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  • 01
    Cheezburger Image 10411094528
    via Getty Images on Unsplash+
  • 02
    Divorce Lawyers of Reddit, what's the most reason outrageous someone filed for divorce?
    via u/dankph
  • 03
    [deleted] 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.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 04
    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, can file for eviction after a divorce.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 05
    Dude gets to live in her house with his precious plants for like 3 months until everything legally gets worked out.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 06
    PetiteChaos Paralegal, here. There's so many crazy divorces and divorce will bring 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-
    via u/PetiteChaos
  • 07
    70's to early 80's. 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
    via u/PetiteChaos
  • 08
    of this information disclosed in it. 2 weeks later he called us and said he wanted to file for divorce instead. Bonus one: A previous client was his wife was cheating on him. She wanted a non-contested divorce and wanted to use my boss specifically
    via u/PetiteChaos
  • 09
    because she knew he was a great lawyer. He pretended to go along with her terms and contacted us literally 2 days before his wife and retained us. He said he didn't care how much money the retainer was but wanted my boss so his wife couldn't have him as a lawyer. He called and paid first, so he won that battle.
    via u/PetiteChaos
  • 10
    Elle_Woods 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 Mom to wait in the lobby while I talk to the son directly, and most of the time he's just there to
    via u/Elle_Woods
  • 11
    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...
    via u/Elle_Woods
  • 12
    [deleted] not a divorce lawyer, but I had a friend whose parents divorced for irreconcilable differences over time spent playing Everquest.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 13
    Bodhi_ZA 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 70's when chest hair was a bit more important.
    via u/Bodhi_ZA
  • 14
    A... My Grandfathers brother was a judge who presided over state issue marriages from time to time, one couple he married returned six months later to "Confirm" the wedding and end their trial marriage, when he thusly informed them that there was no such thing and that they had been married for six months they subsequently broke up.
    via u/Aths
  • 15
    [deleted] "I didn't like her anymore" - 2 days after being married.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 16
    amazinglymorgan My aunt had a case where the wife had glued all of the outdoor hoses together so he wouldnt spend more time washing his vehicle anymore. When the glue didnt work she just cut them all up. When he bought new ones ahe filed for divorce.
    via u/amazinglymorgan
  • 17
    sxcamaro 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.
    via u/sxcamaro
  • 18
    These two argued for a year over custody of the cat but did not give a about their human kids aged 15 months, 4 years, and 6 years old.
    via u/sxcamaro
  • 19
    yeerk_slayer 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
    via u/yeerk_slayer
  • 20
    the bed for himself and lock her out of the bedroom for the night. This was an eccentric late 40s man working at a 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.
    via u/yeerk_slayer
  • 21
    [... I was a legal assistant when this case came in, but this lady divorced her husband of two months because he got her an iPad case for her birthday instead of the expensive jewelry she wanted.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 22
    a... He had an argument with the new inlaws during the wedding and moved out at around 5 am during the first night.
    via u/apolloxer
  • 23
    S... 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
    via u/StanMarsh01
  • 24
    about him whilst he was there, was only when he recorded a conversation whilst they where there and got it translated he found out what was going on.
    via u/StanMarsh01
  • 25
    Carcharodons Wasn't the reason but did happen during the course of the divorce. Neither side would follow the court orders. When they had to go back to court they were fighting over a pistol and the man's grandmother's bowls.
    via u/Carcharodons
  • 26
    I assumed for weeks that these bowls were some sort of heirloom or expensive china. When they finally brought the bowls in to swap they were tupperware.
    via u/Carcharodons
  • 27
    Fiendish Curry My husband's first marriage lasted 6 months. He found out she had been sleeping around with several of his friends and one of those friends finally felt so guilty that he fessed up. Husband actually wanted to work it out if he could, but when he tried to talk to her about it, she locked him out of the house and told him she wanted a divorce. "Why did
    via u/Fiendish Curry
  • 28
    you marry me?" He finally asked her. Her response? Because he was the only one she was sleeping with who could afford her dream wedding. Yup, married him because she wanted a wedding and chose the person who could afford it. Mind you, he wasn't wealthy by any means. He just wishes his "friend" had felt guilty about say, six months sooner.
    via u/Fiendish Curry
  • 29
    e... My cousin told his wife she had three chances to give him a son. Daughter was born first. Strike one. Son was born second. Then they find out the boy cant eat gluten. So my cousin divorced her and has made zero effort to see his kids.
    via u/erfilmvictim
  • 30
    EDIT: I remembered something else he did. He would take off work and instead of spending time with the babies or her he'd tell her 'just act like im at work and do all your normal stuff.' Then he'd watch tv all day.
    via u/erfilmvictim
  • 31
    [deleted] I had some friends get divorced Becuase she legit hated Dale Earnhardt and he legit hated Jeff Gordon.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 32
    Julietcaravello1 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
    via u/Julietcaravello1
  • 33
    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.
    via u/Julietcaravello1
  • 34
    Also: 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.
    via u/Julietcaravello1
  • 35
    doublechocolat... Not me, but a friend my mum has 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.
    via u/doublechocolatecooky
  • 36
    They couldn't lock their bedroom door because his mother would come in as and when 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???
    via u/doublechocolatecooky
  • 37
    Bing-Wallace I worked as a paralegal for a divorce lawyer. Case analysis was one of my main responsibilities. you not. A recently married couple (of 2 years) broke it off because the husband would not stop feeding the dog. The dog got outrageously fat.
    via u/Bing-Wallace
  • 38
    Apparently she saw connection between the dog and future children.
    via u/Bing-Wallace
  • 39
    CrimsonYllek I am a lawyer that handles quite a few divorces (among other things), and I've seen all sorts of reasons for marriages ending. The only thing that is consistently true (and relevant to this question) is that it is NEVER for just one reason, and it is NEVER one-sided. In fact, I've started telling potential clients in our initial interview that I am well aware that I
    via u/CrimsonYllek
  • 40
    am going to uncover some dirt on my client in the process--not to scare them, but to put their mind to ease that I've seen worse, the fact that you haven't been 100% an angel up to this point doesn't scare me, and I'd rather find out about it from my client beforehand than later on from their spouse at the worse possible moment.
    via u/CrimsonYllek
  • 41
    All this is just to say that when you hear about people divorcing over one stupid argument or mistake, usually that's just the straw the broke the camel's back. That said, some of the lighter straws I've seen include: • A guy who is 100% convinced that his wife (our client) is actually a lesbian in love with his sister and just using
    via u/CrimsonYllek
  • 42
    him as a cover (but he also claims she is having with me to pay for her legal fees, and with every male who's phone number is in her call history); • A woman who is divorcing my client because he was "too sad" after his father died last year (my client had to break down her door to get his father's
    via u/CrimsonYllek
  • 43
    ashes a few weeks after he left the house and she refused to let him back in or give them to him); and • A woman who claims my client was emotionally abusive towards her because he refused to yell at her, and sat in silence ignoring her when she
    via u/CrimsonYllek
  • 44
    screamed at him (he has this recorded, time stamped for the dates and times she insists the incidents occurred, and she's listened to them and his complete silence as she goes on tirades and insists this proves her point that he was "emotionally distant and abusive").
    via u/CrimsonYllek
  • 45
    [deleted] I was interning at the time, but my favorite was a couple filed because they BOTH came out as homosexual. Filed for irreconcilable differences... Seemed amicable though.
    via u/[deleted]

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