As divorce rates continue their upward trend, California residents will be interested to hear about a remarkable divorce happening in Italy. Nearly eight decades after a couple in Rome tied the knot, an affair between the 99-year-old man's wife, aged 96, and her secret lover in the 1940s has brought an end to their marriage.

If you thought divorce was already a complicated enough matter, just imagine the property division this elderly couple will have to go through. They were married for 77 years, have five children, 12 grandchildren, and a great grandchild, and surely have acquired quite a bit of property and assets during that time.

Complicated estates, as this one appears to be, require the guidance and expertise of an experienced property lawyer to help you choose your best options when matters of property division are being discussed. For this couple, there will be retirement accounts and securities that must be considered. Retaining an attorney to mediate these delicate proceedings can greatly benefit the splitting parties.

The 99-year-old man discovered some letters that outlined his 96-year-old wife's affair, and when he confronted her about it, she confessed to the decades-old infidelity. They had made it through a rough patch in the past decade when the husband temporarily moved out of their house, but it appears this secret affair will end their marriage.

The husband will now become the oldest person to ever file for divorce, with the previous record belonging to a British couple who were both 98 years of age.

Source: UK Telegraph, "99-year-old divorces wife after he discovered 1940s affair," Nick Squires, Dec. 29, 2011