5. What’s the verdict, Judge? Intolerable!

When people think about judges, they tend to think of the calm, level-headed, and powerful individuals who sit at the apex of the judicial hierarchy. They’ve seen it all, heard it all, and dealt with it all.

But they’re also human.

In 2016, a Canadian couple’s relentless bickering resulted in the presiding judge approving an order forbidding himself from further involvement in the couple’s future hearings unless there was an emergency that meant no other judge was available.

The official reason the judge gave for removing himself from the case was that the couple would have a strong incentive to settle their matters out of court if a new judge was assigned.

But given arguments are common in court, it seems he was simply unable to tolerate the couple’s never-ending arguments.

After all, what’s the point in being a judge if you can’t wield your power ‘appropriately’?

Our divorce solicitors’ advice? As difficult as it may be, try to form an agreement as soon as possible with your soon-to-be-ex as it’s going to save you both a lot of time and money in the long term.

4. Bedroom surprise.

As the eighteenth century author William Congreve wrote, “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned”. And this case might have just proved him right.

Our solicitors aren’t here to judge, we’re here to advise. As such, we’ll let you make your own mind up about the following case.

This case took place on our very own shores in the UK. The lady in question was in a toxic relationship with her husband who she said had been a nightmare and beaten her.

So what did she do? Naturally she started divorce proceedings.

And following that, one night while her husband blacked out on the sofa from drinking, she smashed up a mirror and hid the fragments underneath the bedsheets ready for when her husband turned in for the night.

We don’t know what happened afterwards, but suffice to say, we can’t recommend you doing this. While she might have felt better, she could also have put herself at risk of prosecution.

Our solicitor’s divorce advice? Avoid conflict at all costs. Not only can it lead to retaliation, it could also lead to you being disadvantaged when factors such as child custody are involved.

3. Burnt the house down.

In this divorce case, the couple had been separated for ten years but hadn’t yet divorced. At least not until recently.

But despite a decade passing, this marriage was still destined to go down in flames. Over the course of the divorce, it seemed more and more likely that the wife would get the family home out of the divorce. The husband decided to take matters into his own hands to even up the tables.

But how? By burning the family home, of course, shortly followed by a trip to prison for arson.

This fine gentleman wasn’t without manners, though. Right after he’d set fire to the matrimonial home, he was kind enough to fax his ex-wife the transfer of ownership forms.

Our divorce solicitor’s advice? We can safely say arson isn’t the way forward. It’s unlikely both you and your ex will be entirely happy with the outcome of your divorce. In an ideal world, you get the house, your pension, the complete care of your children, but this isn’t fair or equitable on both sides. You should keep your expectations as reasonable and as balanced as possible. Acceptance of the outcome will allow you to move on to the next chapter of your life.

2. He still controlled the thermostat.

This divorce started with a classic story of love, life and betrayal. While on one of his frequent business trips, the husband discovered his wife was having an affair while he was away. He decided that wouldn’t quite work for him and they both divorced, with the wife receiving the family home in the divorce financial settlement.

The husband wasn’t best pleased with this result and started plotting his revenge. During his contemplations, he wondered whether his ex-wife had changed the thermostat password in the house, which could be controlled in an app. She had not.

The following year after finding this out he regularly remotely tampered with the thermostat settings. In the winter he turned off all the heating, and in the summer he put the heat on max. Then, when his ex-wife was away, he would turn the air conditioning on max and make it run 24/7 to present her with a pleasant surprise bill on her return home.

Again, we can’t advocate this as a legal course of action to get what you want out of your divorce.

Our divorce solicitors’ advice? Forget the past, however hard it is. Dwelling on it can only serve to harm your future as it prevents you from mentally moving on.

1. I need a hit-man!

In this case, the husband was the main breadwinner in the family and he was found cheating on his wife.

After it transpired through the divorce proceedings that the apparently wealth husband would need to shell out over £1,500 each month for his wife and children, he hatched a plan. A plan so simple, it couldn’t possibly fail.

He would hire a hit man to take out his wife.

He made the necessary arrangements and paid £11,500 to his chosen assassin. Unfortunately for him, the hit man in question turned out to be an undercover police officer.

What was the punishment for his crime? 18 months in prison. And apparently his wife still had to fight for her £1,500 a month even after he was released.

Our divorce solicitors’ advice? While you might not like the outcome of your divorce, we can’t advocate you go killing the person you once loved. It’s much more sensible to get legal advice on how to get a better financial settlement – but if your case is complex, we can’t promise it won’t cost more than a hit man!