17 Really Weird Divorce Settlements

Married residents of Kentucky who want to go their separate ways can do so only after getting a divorce education certificate. It’s a program parents have to attend to make them more aware of the impact their separation will have on their children. The ultimate goal is an amicable divorce with as few disputes as possible.

Before Jennifer Lopez married fellow singer Marc Anthony in 2004, he was married to actress and former beauty queen Dayanara Torres. After Torres and Anthony settled on the usual during the divorce proceedings — custody of their children and division of assets, etc. — Torres reportedly had to sign an agreement to never speak ill of Lopez or she could face a lawsuit.

You may have already forgotten former “Baywatch” and “Knight Rider” star David Hasselhoff, but he is still very popular in parts of Europe, especially Germany. So it makes sense, from his perspective, to want to keep the rights, as part of his divorce settlement, to several of his nicknames — “The Hoff,” “Malibu Dave,” and the catchphrase “Don’t Hassel the Hoff.”

If a resident of Oklahoma meets someone right after divorcing and wants to walk down the aisle again, he or she has to wait six months. People who have filed for divorce may not remarry anyone in Oklahoma, unless they are remarrying their former spouse, for six months after the divorce has been finalized — unless the former spouse is deceased. They can marry again in another state before the six months expire, but they can’t live together in Oklahoma. (Living together within these six months is deemed adultery.)

Splitting the house in half usually means selling it and splitting the money 50/50, right? Well, not for a couple in Cambodia in 2008. They literally sawed a house in half after ending their 18-year marriage. It was easier than you might think because the house — typical for the rural part of the country — was made of wood.

When you no longer want to live with your spouse but you can’t live on your own — a familiar phenomenon for some couples divorcing at the height of the financial crisis — you split your residence down the middle. This is what happened to a Spanish couple who lived in a 2,700-square-foot apartment. The judge ordered the couple to create two independent residences, because it would save them money and be better for their young daughters.

A couple in Australia was getting a divorce and she got the family farm. So far, so good — there is nothing strange about this arrangement. But then she wanted her soon-to-be ex to dig up his parents’ ashes from the yard, where he had created a memorial garden for them, and remove them from the property.

Right along with natural impotence, insanity, and a wife’s pregnancy by another person at the time of the marriage, idiocy can be used as grounds for divorce in Mississippi. According to the law, one of the spouses must not have known of the condition before getting hitched. “Incurable idiocy,” which develops during the course of the marriage is also a legal reason to get a divorce because of the impact it has on the marriage, according to the Mississippi Bar.

Most artists hope that anything they create will be a hit. However, Marvin Gaye’s legendary “Here, My Dear” album was not intended to be a hit at all. He purposely made it sound terrible because half of the album’s profits were to go to his ex-wife. His lawyer had suggested this arrangement because Gaye did not have enough money to pay child support for the couple’s son.

If a couple living in Texas want to get a divorce but the wife is pregnant, they may have to wait until the baby is born. Most courts in the state will not finalize a divorce if a child, even if it’s not the husband’s, is on its way. The reason is to make sure that matters regarding the child can be included in the final divorce ruling.

An Indian man said that one reason for wanting to divorce his wife was that she spent a huge portion of the family’s fortune on ice cream. It looks like the judge did not fully agree with the husband because he ordered him to pay his soon-to-be ex-wife of 23 years extra money every month to cover her ice cream expenses.

A British woman donated one of her kidneys to her husband to save his life. He survived, got better, and, four years later, left her. She was so angry, she demanded her kidney back. In a similar case in New York, a man asked that the value of the kidney he donated to his wife be included in the divorce settlement.

Couples usually go to therapy to save a marriage, not to end it. But divorces are messy and even the most amicable separations can quickly turn ugly when it comes to dividing money and sharing children and pets. More couples are turning to divorce therapy to prevent that from happening. Counseling is not required but courts can order a couple to go through therapy before finalizing a divorce.

People who hope for a quick divorce may not have their wish granted if they live in Delaware. The Court requires that the couple be separated for at least six months before proceeding with the divorce. There are a few exceptions, however. The legal dissolution of marriage can be quicker if the grounds for divorce are physical, mental, or psychological abuse, adultery, or desertion.

When a couple in Missouri gets a divorce, the male still has to pay alimony even if he is not the biological father of the child. The law in the state says that when a child is born to a woman while she is married or within 300 days of the divorce, her spouse is presumed to be the father. The only way to change that is to file a petition asking the court to determine he is not the biological father.

Oregon is a no-fault state, which means couples don’t have to put the blame on anyone for wanting to end the marriage. They just have to inform the court they want a divorce. While all 50 states allow no-fault grounds for divorce, 17 are “true” no-fault states, meaning that they won’t allow the spouse filing for divorce to cast the blame on their partner for the ending of the marriage.

Even though Wisconsin residents don’t have to prove someone is to blame for the breakdown of their marriage, divorce is not quick. State courts will make the couple wait for some time both to actually get divorced and to tie the knot again. There is a 120-day waiting period to legally become single again once the divorce is officially granted. Neither the wife nor the husband can remarry anywhere in the world for at least six months.