I left my cheating alcoholic drug abusing first husband after seven years of marriage. Rented an apartment with money I borrowed from my dad and filed for divorce using an attorney friend of the family who agreed to take payments. I did everything wrong, didn’t document anything, didn’t take anything with me but clothes and a few personal things, didn’t take any pictures of the condition of the house, the cars, all the tools, etc. He sold stuff from the house, moved tools to one of his relatives, didn’t respond to the summons, hid from the process server multiple times, moved his girlfriend and some others into our home, and I spent nineteen months trying to get the divorce final and walked away with much, much less than I was entitled to. The same thing happened to my husband with his first marriage (also to an alcoholic cheater). In the end, the person who wants out the most seems to settle for the least, at least in our cases. If I had prepared I would have separate accounts, copies of all documents, paid off or separate credit, a reliable paid off car of my own, and I definitely would have convinced him to sell the house while we were still married and then divide up the proceeds. As it was, he ended up with the house because he refused to move out, trashed it partying with his roommates and various animals, wouldn’t show it even when listed, and I finally gave up and accepted his low ball buyout offer. Karma got him, though. Three years later his new wife (who got a divorce so she could marry him), found him cheating, kicked him out and she kept the house.