Then they divorced. By the time the dust settled after two years of legal fisticuffs, the house was gone, as were most other assets. Their two teen-age daughters drift restlessly between Mom's to Dad's and the homes of friends, having abandoned earlier plans for college.
Divorce can be a financial disaster.
When a couple decides to call it quits, it is almost always for personal reasons such as incompatibility or infidelity. The issues quickly shift to money, however, and the result can be a slugfest, even in so-called amiable breakups. Everybody loses, except, perhaps, the attorneys. It need not be that way. Few people would ever find the divorce process fun.