History Main / TakingTheKids

* A variation is discussed in an episode of ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle''. In that episode, Hal has a cancer scare, and Lois becomes more aggravated than usual, and eventually Malcolm and Reese come to the conclusion that Lois and Hal are getting a divorce. After Hal gets a second opinion that says he does not have cancer, Reese and Malcolm, [[LockedOutOfTheLoop not being told of what was going on]], and with packed bags, tell Lois and Hal that they accept the divorce, and ask Hal how soon can they move in to his new place. Lois, with a mischievous smile, says that they both agreed that should they ever get a divorce, she would get full custody.

* ''Film/BoilerRoom'' revolves around Seth a college dropout that gets hired to work at [=J.T.=] Marlin, [[WhiteCollarCrime a brokerage firm that sells worthless stocks]] to [[TheMark unsuspecting investors.]] One of Seth's victims invests his family's life savings on a worthless company, and after several heated arguments with his wife, she takes the kids and leaves him alone in their home. Seth regrets his actions, and decides to scam the company and give the guy his money back, right before the Feds come in and arrest everyone.

* In ''Film/ZeroHour'', Ellen is leaving her husband Ted Stryker with their young son because Ted's DarkAndTroubledPast is affecting his ability to be a good role model.

* ''Literature/TheLightJar'' opens with Nate's mum waking him in the middle of the night, hours before her abusive boyfriend is due to get back from a business trip, and telling him to pack so they can go on holiday. They drive off in Gary's car. Nate doesn't realize they're not really on holiday until they arrive at the HorribleHousing where Nate's mum says they now live.

* In the {{backstory}} of Laurie R. King's ''Literature/LockedRooms'', Mary Russell's mother did this in the wake of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, although her parents did not divorce.

* In Olivia Goldsmith's ''Young Wives'', Jada gave her husband an ultimatum: give up his mistress and try to make the marriage work. ''He'' then filed for divorce and complete custody, although she'd been sole breadwinner and doing all the homemaking, hence the ultimatum, crowning it with a demand for alimony. [[spoiler:In the end, played straight as she kidnaps the kids and takes them out of the country, albeit with their last-minute consent.]]
* In Alice Hoffman's ''Turtle Moon'', one of the plot points is that the female lead insisted on taking the kid after her divorce, even though said kid despises living in Florida with her and has his calendar rather spectacularly marked for when he goes to visit his father in New England for the summer -- he refers to it as "home".
* In the {{backstory}} of Laurie R. King's ''Locked Rooms'', Mary Russell's mother did this in the wake of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, although her parents did not divorce.

* In ''Film/ZeroHour!'', Ellen is leaving her husband Ted Stryker with their young son because Ted's DarkAndTroubledPast is affecting his ability to be a good role model.

* ''The Fan'', where the main character's wife taking his only son is one of the main things that drive him to homicidal rage and murder.

* Used for comedy in [[http://superredundant.com/?comic=123-assumptions this]] ''Webcomic/LeagueOfSuperRedundantHeroes'' strip. A man coming home early from work finds his wife being tied up by a strange man, both of them wearing [[DressedLikeADominatrix kinky]] [[{{Stripperific}} scanty]] outfits. He angrily storms off, taking the goldfish bowl with him. [[NotWhatItLooksLike It turns out]] that the outfits are their supervillainess and superhero costumes, and he's capturing her to turn over the authorities.

* This is the whole premise behind the 1970s sitcom ''One Day At A Time'': The mom took the daughters and left her husband. Why? Just because she wanted to prove that she could.

* A variation is discussed in an episode of ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle''. In that episode, Hal has a cancer scare, and Lois becomes more aggravated than usual, and eventually Malcolm and Reese come to the conclusion that Lois and Hal are getting a divorce. After Hal gets a second opinion that says he does not have cancer, Reese and Malcolm, [[LockedOutOfTheLoop not being told of what was going on]], and with packed bags, tell Lois and Hal that they accept the divorce, and ask Hal how soon can they move in to his new place. Lois, with a mischievous smile, says that they both agreed that should they ever get a divorce, she would full custody.

* It's possible to get this as a NonStandardGameOver in the VideoGame/HarvestMoonAWonderfulLife games, although you have to be trying pretty hard. If you don't do any farm work or ship ''anything'' at all, in the second or third chapter your spouse will eventually start asking you if the farm is doing okay. You can apologize and promise to work harder, or you can give rude and negative answers until your spouse gets fed up and walks out along with your child. Afterwards, Takakura tells you that if you don't like farm work, you should go find something you're more suited to.

* Lois is ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' when Peter gets amnesia and starts going and having sex with other women.

* In Manga/OniisamaE, this happened in the past of one [[spoiler: Professor Misonoo]]. The kid is [[spoiler: Takehiko Henmi... who years later becomes the titular "Oniisama" and BigBrotherMentor to the heroine Nanako.]]

* In ''Literature/TheBoyInTheStripedPyjamas'', when Bruno's mother realizes what it means for her husband to the commandant of concentration camp, they spend several days loudly fighting with Bruno and his sister listening to their screams. Eventually, she decides to spend the remainder of the war at the house of a relative, along her two children. Unfortunately Bruno decides [[spoiler: to sneak into the camp to say goodbye to his friend, gets mistaken for an inmate, and [[TogetherInDeath they're thrown into]] a [[DownerEnding gas chamber]].]]

** Early on in the same movie, Jim Carrey convinces a GoldDigger client through some hilarious StrawFeminist arguments that she ''deserves'' a substantial portion of her husband's fortune to strike a blow for women everywhere. This is morphed to a DudeNotFunny moment later on when she uses this same argument to justify TakingTheKids- for child support payments, when up to this point she had shown no interest in having custody.

If the estrangement explicitly turns into a divorce proceeding, usually the wife either gains full custody or the lion's share of the joint custody arrangement -- which makes this trope general TruthInTelevision, as custody cases tend to tilt toward the mother unless the father holds a very clear monetary advantage over his ex-wife. Even then the usual outcome is not sole but joint custody.