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.
In the worn light of late September, another story of unraveling came to the docket in Cook County. On September 23, 2025, Norman Drouillard, represented by Merel Family Law, filed a petition for dissolution of marriage against his wife, Shannon Gross. Their union, solemnized in Vancouver on January 16, 2014, has now been declared unsustainable, marked by irreconcilable differences that left reconciliation not only improbable but futile.
The couple share no children, no pressing obligations of custody or support. What remains between them is the division of what was once theirs together—homes, furnishings, cars, accounts, debts, and all the objects and obligations that tether two lives for better or worse. Norman asks the court not simply to dissolve the marriage, but to disentangle these possessions and debts with fairness, granting him his non-marital property and a just portion of the rest.
But his requests press further: he seeks maintenance from Shannon, contending that he has leaned upon her financially during the marriage and cannot sustain himself in the same manner without support. He asks, too, that she be barred from seeking maintenance from him, arguing her financial independence is well established. Lastly, he petitions that she contribute to his attorney’s fees, citing her considerable means.
It is not bitterness that shapes these words on paper but the cold language of statute and pleading, reducing the long years of companionship into claims, defenses, and reliefs sought—each side waiting to see what the court will divide, and what it will leave behind.
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