|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Doreen got married in her freshman year of college. She had wanted to be a biologist, but she fell in love with her classmate, Brian. Within a year of getting married, she was pregnant with her first child. She loved the role of mother and left school. Doreen then had another child, and for the next five years devoted her time to caring for her children. Her marriage to Brain began to deteriorate when the children were spending long days at school and at after-school activities. A bright woman, Doreen was itching to do something more with her life. Meanwhile, Brian, an accountant, had moved his practice into their home. When Doreen's unhappiness finally reached the breaking point, she decided to go back to school and renew the life she had abandoned at the age of 19. She and Brian agreed that Brian would remain in their home with the children and that she would move to a local condominium. Brian had primary custody, but the children lived with Doreen on the weekends. She was able to pursue her new life and still have a close relationship with her children. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Special Considerations in High-Conflict Divorce |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Harriet and Bill had been snapping at each other for years, the fire of passion that characterized their early romance long extinguished by the mundane realities of life. Harriet and Bill had two children, Gwen, 14, and Martin, 12. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bill, manager of a health care facility, couldn't keep his eyes off Marion, a lab technician 10 years his junior. After so many years of squelched sexuality in his marriage, Bill couldn't pass up the opportunity to engage Marion in conversation. What started out as a flirtation, ended up as a passionate romance. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A year later, Bill decided he wanted a permanent relationship with Marion. After much anguished decision-making about leaving his family, he decided to tell Harriet that he wanted a divorce. |
|
|
|
|
|