In a relationship column published in “The Japan News”, S from Saitama Prefecture wrote in to the “Troubleshooter”. She explained that her fiancé called off their engagement as he did not like the way she did housework. On first sight, this appears to be one of many petty reasons for divorce
S’s letter
S is a female part-timer in her 20s. Her fiancé claimed that he was “under pressure” after getting a new job. He even apologized to S’s parents by kneeling in front of them!
In S’s letter, she wrote that it is normal for them to have different ways of doing housework since they grew up in different families. She added that she told him that both of them “needed to compromise and support each other.”
Troubleshooter’s reply
In his/ her reply, Troubleshooter suggested that S’s fiancé might have wanted to break up with her for a long while but did not know when he should let her know. To Troubleshooter, the reason for the breakup is unlikely to be S’s way of doing housework.
Troubleshooter went on to chide S, asking her if she ever did “give way to [her ex-fiancé’s] opinions or requests and make concessions”. Troubleshooter suggested that S’s ex-fiancé’s might have felt that he had given way to S more than S ever thought.
Troubleshooter ended by advising S to live a new life henceforth and keeping her experience with her ex-fiancé in mind.
See: “My fiancé called off our engagement because he disliked the way I did housework”, The Japan News/ ANN (reproduced in AsiaOne women on 26 December 2016)
As a divorce lawyer in Singapore, I have had many clients who used similar reasons to support their divorce. Reasons such as “dislike for the way the other party does the housework” may appear trivial but it can irk the other party to such an extent that he/ she finds it intolerable to live with the party doing the housework.
See: Section 95 of Women’s Charter Singapore
Frequently, like what Troubleshooter suggested, seemingly petty reasons for divorce as such may not form the only reason for divorce. There may be other underlying problems between the couple. Or it could be a build-up/ accumulation of daily frustration from petty reasons for divorce.
Many clients of mine, prior to coming to me, believe that reasons for divorce must be “extreme and big”. The truth however is, an accumulation of such seemingly petty reasons for divorce can form the basis of one’s divorce.
Contact us today to find out if you have sufficient reasons to file for divorce in Singapore.
You may also be interested to read more about:
2. Annulment (Nullity) of Marriage
5. Maintenance Issues (Alimony)
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