History Main / SolomonDivorce

* ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'': When Shirogane's mom left seven years before the story began, she took his little sister Kei with her (since she was a serious EducationMama and Kei was more successful in her studies). Kei is already back to living with her father and brother by the time the story starts [[spoiler:because she ran away from her mother]].

%%* Ultimately revealed to be the origin of the two Mazes in ''Anime/MazeMegaburstSpace.''

** Occurs in ''Anime/DigimonFrontier'' with Koji and Koichi. Koji lives with their dad, Koichi with their mom. Despite their being identical twins, neither twin was aware of the other, with Koichi only finding out from his grandmother on the latter's deathbed.

* ''Anime/YuGiOh'', Katsuya Jonouchi lived with his father, an alcoholic and gambling addict ([[FridgeBrilliance which is probably a factor why his dueling style heavily involves luck and is sparse on rare and reliable cards]]), while his sister lived with their mother. Jonouchi and his mother were reluctant to even speak to each other until his sister's eye surgery (which Jonouchi paid for), and the plot didn't dwell on it. (Seeing as he was very close to his sister after that, we can assume he and his mother were at least on speaking terms.)

->''"They must've quarreled and parted; and just sort of ... bisected us, each taking one of us."''

In fiction, another solution is sometimes agreed upon: the parents split the kids down the middle, á la [[JudgmentOfSolomon the biblical story of Solomon]]. When this sort of split occurs, the father will get the sons or older children while the mother gets any daughters or younger children. This can and will occur regardless of one parent's skill, or even suitability, to raise a child.

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--> '''Judge:''' You want to split up ''twin sisters''? You understand that children are not like monetary possessions?

* ''Anime/YuGiOh'', Katsuya Jonouchi lived with his father, an alcoholic and gambling addict ([[FridgeBrilliance which is probably a factor why his dueling style heavily involves luck and is sparse on rare and reliable cards]]), while his sister lived with their mother. Jonouchi and his mother were reluctant to even speak to each other until his sister's eye surgery (which Jonouchi paid for), and the plot didn't dwell on it. (Seeing as he was very close to his sister after that, we can assume he and his mother were at least on speaking terms.)

* Koshiro & Nanoka in ''Manga/KoiKaze'' were separated for ten years following their parents divorce. The only reason Nanoka comes to live with Koshiro and their father: It's convenient for school.
* Shugo and Rena ''Manga/DotHackLegendOfTheTwilight'' can apparently only meet in "The World." Though this isn't explained why it's possible they simply live across the country making meeting difficult. This is only in the non-canon anime however. The Manga has their parents together and they are sitting right next to each other while playing the game.
* Ultimately revealed to be the origin of the two Mazes in ''Anime/MazeMegaburstSpace.''
* Setsuna and Sara in ''Manga/AngelSanctuary,'' although they make a point of getting together. Sara refers to it as dating, and that's [[BrotherSisterIncest not the worst of it.]]

* ''Anime/FreshPrettyCure'': Miki Aoni/Cure Berry lives with her divorced mom, and her DisappearedDad took her brother Kazuki with him. They just coincidentally attend the same school, and then Miki took advantage of the fact that nobody knew they were related to ask Kazuki to pretend that they were a couple, so Miki doesn't get swarmed with a lot of unwanted admirers.

* Also happened in ''Manga/BlueSpringRide'', (from the same author of ''Strobe Edge'') with Kou moving away with his mother while his older brother stayed with their father. A few years later, he moves back in with his father after his mother's death.
* In ''Manga/{{Saiyuki}}'', this is part of Hakkai's convoluted backstory. His parents divorced when he was a toddler, with his mother taking him and his father taking his twin sister. They didn't meet again until they encountered each other by chance at school [[spoiler:and promptly [[{{Twincest}} fell in love]]. Too bad about that Westermarck Effect never having the chance to kick in...]]
* In ''The Daichis--Earth Defense Family,'' mother Seiko tells the kids to choose which parent they want to live with after the divorce...then pretty much mandates that daughter Nozomi stays with her while son Dai goes with Mamoru. (Nozomi had chosen her father, while Dai stubbornly insisted he wanted to stay with both.) In any event, the divorce doesn't wind up happening.
* ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'': When Shirogane's mom left seven years before the story began, she took his little sister Kei with her (since she was a serious EducationMama and Kei was more successful in her studies). Kei is already back to living with her father and brother by the time the story starts [[spoiler:because she ran away from her mother.]]
* A tragic example happens in ''Manga/{{Major}}''. Joe Gibson's wife Laura filed for divorce after he refused to go back to North America, taking their baby daughter Melissa with her while their son Junior stayed with him in Japan. [[spoiler:Then a few months later, they learn that Laura and Melissa died in a car crash]].

* Inverted in the French film ''Papa ou Maman'' (Daddy or Mommy), where ''neither'' parent wants custody of the kids, and thought the other was planning to take them.

* In ''Caucasia'' by Danzy Senna, biracial protagonist Birdie is left with her white mother when her parents split because her skin is light enough to pass as olive and her passionate about black pride father feels more connected to her darker-skinned older sister. Ironically, Birdie was the more interested of the two sisters in racial issues.
* In ''Literature/TheBabysittersClub'', Dawn's mother initially received full custody of her and her younger brother, Jeff. She abruptly decided to move them back to her hometown in Stoneybrook, Connecticut while her ex-husband stayed in California. Jeff started acting out after a while, because he missed both his father and his hometown, and eventually moved back in with him. Dawn, meanwhile, had an easier time sticking it out because she'd made more friends initially, but her own homesickness led to her spending first a semester with her father, before eventually moving back in with him full-time as well.
* In ''Literature/AMurderIsAnnounced'' Pip and Emma were separated by their parents in this manner. It has been so long that when they are both living in the same house, they don't recognize each other initially.

* Briefly mentioned in an episode of ''Series/{{NCIS}}''. A pair of brothers was split up when their parents divorced; the mother was "only able to save one," while the other was raised by the father in a town with a brewing feud. The "saved" brother wound up becoming a marine, thus dragging NCIS into it when he went back to help his brother with said feud.

* In ''Manga/{{Saiyuki}}'', this is part of Hakkai's convoluted backstory. His parents divorced when he was a toddler, with his mother taking him and his father taking his twin sister. They didn't meet again until they encountered each other by chance at school [[spoiler:and promptly [[IncestIsRelative fell in love]]. Too bad about that Westermarck Effect never having the chance to kick in...]]

* Terry and Matt in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond''. In the the first episode, Matt lives with their mom, while Terry [[TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive lives with]] their [[YouKilledMyFather father]]. Unlike most examples, there appears to be regular visitation. As the series wears on it is suggested that prior to the pilot episode Terry's parents shared joint custody of their sons and the two would shuttle back and forth between them, something that played a part in Terry's early juvenile delinquency. [[spoiler: And you have [[WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited Amanda Waller]] to thank for that]].

* While today this is uncommon (although it does occur) it historically happened much more often. In particular, in the [[UsefulNotes/TheCommonLaw English-speaking countries]], a set of presumptions arose in the 19th century dictating that in general, sons of divorced parents should be raised by their fathers, while daughters should be raised by their mothers. An exception was made for children in their "tender years" (always below seven years old, although the limit could go as high as twelve in some jurisdictions), as young children were generally considered to "naturally" belong in the care of their mothers. Again, this was just a presumption--fathers could and did occasionally get custody of children in their "tender years", and sons who aged past the threshould could and did sometimes remain with their mothers--but in the vast majority of cases, as soon as the sons aged out of the "tender years," they were sent straight to Dad. Eventually, this doctrine was abolished, as the damaging effects of separating siblings was gradually accepted by the courts, and [[DontSplitUsUp keeping siblings together]] became the default rule. However, the "tender years" doctrine remained, which generally meant that ''all'' the children would stay with the mother, even if that wasn't necessarily the best thing for them. Only in the last quarter of the 20th century did the courts theoretically abandon this analysis, and it wasn't until the 1990s or 2000s that courts began to seriously regard fathers as potentially equally good caretakers for young children as mothers. Even today, it's a serious struggle, and one of the main grievances of the men's rights movement.

Named after the JudgmentOfSolomon, except in ''that'' case there was only ''one'' child and the whole thing was a ruse in any case. Can easily be seen as ValuesDissonance, since within the setting this is almost never looked upon as all that unusual. Compare SeparatedAtBirth for examples of when these siblings were separated by other factors.

Named after the JudgmentOfSolomon, except in ''that'' case there was only ''one'' child and the whole thing was a ruse in any case. Can easily be seen as ValuesDissonance or MoralDissonance, since within the setting this is almost never looked upon as all that unusual. Compare SeparatedAtBirth for examples of when these siblings were separated by other factors.