Messy divorces costly, bankrupting couples

FEMINISM - Watching a messy divorce can be pretty sad sometimes. Especially when you learn of the results:

Wayne Tippett of Canada has nothing left but a 10-year-old car and a granite tombstone.

Tippett, 51, is bankrupt and living with his parents after a messy divorce settlement left him $75,000 in debt and racking up $1,000 more each month.

He also cannot afford to pay his ex-wife (the couple had no children) $3,300 a month in spousal support, $16,000 in retroactive alimony and $42,000 of her court costs.

His ex-wife, who has no income of her own, took everything in the complicated and messy divorce.

Wayne Tippett makes a good poster child for no-contest divorces (also known as no-fault divorce). Lawyers, typically, badmouth the idea of a no-contest divorce but the idea is gaining popularity. The end result is that ex-couples keep more money for themselves and split things evenly rather than having most of it go towards their greedy lawyers.

Divorces are often messy, but they don't have to be. Sometimes people can part amiably and without the financial heartbreak.