50 Years And No Longer Holding 1 - By: Lucille Uttermohlen

You would think that after 50 years of marriage, you could be pretty secure in the notion that this one would last. One of the first divorces I had was for a gentleman who had been married for that long. He told me that his wife and daughter were both against him, and he couldn't take it anymore. He moved out of the house they had shared since their wedding day into an apartment uptown. He said he was much happier to be on his own.

I did his petition. It was obvious from talking to him that marriage counseling wasn't in the cards. In fact, I got the impression that kissing a rattle snake had more appeal than spending another hour with his lovely bride. She could have the house and her car. He would take his car, and they would split his pension. In fact, she could have had the clothes off his back if it meant he'd never have to see her again. My own parents had been married in the same year as these people, which made their separation even sadder to me.

I asked him the usual questions. When were you married? When did you separate? He laughed when I asked if any of his children were emancipated. "Not only are they all on their own, but they are older then you."

He left my office, and I filed his petition. Since they had everything worked out, I figured I wouldn't hear from him again until the 60 days was up. I didn't, but I did get an interesting call.

"Lucille," my secretary sounded worried, "There's an older lady on the phone, and she is really ticked."

I picked up my line, and held my breath. An unhappy client is a nightmare for a lawyer. If you lose a case, you didn't help them. If you win, it was such a good case that your talent couldn't have anything to do with the success. I struggled to think of something I had done wrong in one of my recent cases, but I came up empty. Had I overlooked something? I'm sure I would have been called by the judge if I was late for court somewhere. If I had missed court altogether, I would have been taken out and shot. Nevertheless,I took a deep breath and made myself say, "This is Lucille. can I help you?"

"You sure as hell can!" she said angrily, "I went through the change of life 30 years ago, what's this stuff about me being pregnant?""

"Ma'am?" I was really puzzled. I wasn't in the habit of filing maternity suits. When kids are born, Daddy's identity may be a mystery, but Mommy's is pretty obvious. "Could you tell me who you are?"

"I'm Harry's wife. Did he tell you I was having a baby?"

"No," I was relieved. "There is a part in the petition talking about children. You have to allege that the wife is NOT pregnant to get a divorce."

"Good!" she muttered, "I was afraid that old goat was up to something."

Copyright (c) 2009 Lucille Uttermohlen

About the Author

Lucille Uttermohlen is an attorney with 27 years experience in family law issues. If you want to read more about divorce, paternity, marriage or other family law subjects, visit Lucille at her web site: http://www.couple-or-not.com . If you have a legal question, or just want to chat, write to Lucille at lucille@utter-law.com

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