Disclaimer: All facts gleaned from the filings stated hereafter are only as truthful as the petitioner. The tone of this article expresses a style of writing historically employed by America’s greatest writers and, as such, is for opinion purposes only. No intentional harm is due. Do not read if the topic of divorce (even your own) causes you emotional distress. Continue at your own risk.
Marriages often begin with ceremony and optimism, but their unraveling is rarely marked by pageantry. For James Nelson, fifty-two, and Stephanie Nelson, forty-eight, the end arrived by legal filing in Cook County, Illinois, on August 22, 2025. What once was a union solemnized in Chicago on September 8, 2012, is now described in court records as a marriage beset by irreconcilable differences, its repair declared both impracticable and not in the best interest of either spouse.
The petition, filed through James’s attorney, Steven L. Venit of Chicago’s Venit Law Office, asks the court to dissolve the marriage and divide their limited assets and debts equitably. Both spouses are employed, both have lived in Illinois for the statutory period, and neither disputes jurisdiction. The matter of property is not one of sprawling estates but of modest holdings, to be split with balance rather than contention.
One child, an eight-year-old son, ties the parties together beyond the court’s decree. James acknowledges both he and Stephanie are fit to share parental responsibilities and requests a formal allocation of parenting time. The petition further seeks to bar maintenance, underscoring that each spouse is capable of supporting themselves.
In his certification, James affirms the truth of his petition, positioning the filing less as an act of conflict than of closure. What was once twelve years of shared life now reaches the courts not with spectacle but with a plea for fairness, finality, and recognition of an ending that both spouses have already begun to live apart.
Please contact VowBreakers for access to documents related to the case.
