I'm a 31 year old male in Georgia with 2 kids (8yr and 4yr). We have been married for almost 10 years and have been fighting for about 10 out of those 10 years. We should have divorced right away, but we had our first child and here we are...

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She has threatened divorce for years and years. I finally told her last year I wanted a divorce since I'm completely miserable in my house. I hate coming home from work, hate everytime she calls me, I hate laying next to her and dread every night because of the fight or conversation that awaits.

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Somehow, we made it another year and again, I told her last month I wanted a divorce and she finally agreed to go to counseling. We went and she hated the counselor and said that she felt like a target at the counseling session. Now she wants to find someone else to talk to.

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She now acts like she wants to stay together, but I have no desire to keep this marriage going, I want a divorce. We own a house and I know we'd sell it upon divorce since she knows we couldn't afford to keep the house (I make around 65k and she makes around 50k).

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How do we possibly separate, I can't afford an apartment while we still own the house and I feel that we couldn't live together separated because of how hostile the house will get.

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I really want 50/50 custody because I adore my kids and, like everyone else in the world, I'd like to keep as much money as possible. We came to the marriage with no money or assets so it makes sense to just split it all and I feel that is what she would think as well.

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I'm really here to vent and get advice, I'm not sure what to do next. We don't have a ton of savings to pay lawyers or anything. Can I try to just use mediation or should I definitely still get a lawyer with a new credit card or something?

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