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.
There are moments in a marriage when the silence between two people grows louder than any fight ever could. On July 3, 2025, Rachel Levine stood before that silence and chose to speak through the channels of law, filing a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage in the Circuit Court of Cook County against her husband, Matthew Levine. Both are 43. Both live and work in Chicago. Both now stand at the end of a union that began on August 29, 2009.
This is not a tale marked by scandal or fury. No one accuses. No one denies. Rachel, through her counsel Andrew M. Engle of Davis Friedman, LLP, writes of irreconcilable differences—those quiet devastations that move through a home over years until nothing recognizable remains. Their shared life includes two children, Maggie and William, both still in the heart of childhood. For them, the parents have struck a careful balance: shared decision-making, parenting time guided by agreement, and a structure that seeks to preserve stability amid transition.
The division of their marriage is not without complexity—marital property accumulated over 15 years, non-marital property Rachel asserts as solely hers, and financial responsibilities that must now be disentangled. But even in disassembly, there is clarity. Rachel asks for fairness, for support, for the right to reclaim her former name, Bertsche, and for a future unburdened by legal ambiguity.
What remains unsaid in legal filings are the years between vows and petition—the private reckonings. What’s written is the end of a marriage. What lingers is the humanity within it.
Please contact VowBreakers for access to documents related to the case.
