Kathleen Savio was crushed when she heard that her husband had been cheating on her with a 17-year-old named Stacy Cales. Drew Peterson had never alluded to difficulties in their marriage, but then conducted an affair with a teenager in order to obtain sexual fulfillment. Once Kathleen discovered his infidelity, the husband determined that he was in love with Cales and divorced his wife. Peterson decided that it would be best if he moved out but stayed close so that custody and visitation issues wouldn’t get too complicated. Peterson ended up moving in down the street from his ex-wife and family with his mistress Cales in tow. Sources say that Peterson married the teen not long after.

According to one family court judge, when ex-spouses move close together, the arrangement can be very beneficial. Couples that can behave themselves often have an easier time dealing with visitation and other issues if their ex-spouse is also their neighbor. When a divorce is amicable, living in close proximity is almost recommended. Yet when a couple ended on bad terms, living close together could prove hard and even fatal. For Kathleen Savio, living near her ex may have been the choice that caused her early passing. Savio was discovered dead in her bathtub one day after the divorce was finalized.

A friend of Petersons’ testified in court, saying that the ex-husband had said that his life would be better if his ex-wife were dead. Savio’s death was ruled an accident when investigators did not understand how the bathroom could have stayed so clean if she had been struggling with her husband. Bottles were arranged on the edge of the tub and everything looked to be in its proper place. Yet the Savio case was reopened recently when Peterson’s fourth wife, Cales, went missing and was never discovered. Savio’s sister has also testified in the case, saying that she was staying at Savio’s house and witnessed Peterson breaking into the home and making threats to Savio.

Mary Parks, a friend of Savio’s, says that she remembers an account of a death threat issued by Peterson to his ex-wife. One time he pinned her down by the neck and asked her “why don’t you just die?” Savio was in shock when describing the attack, and then allegedly showed her friend the dark marks on her neck from where she had been held down. The case shows the danger of living near a spouse that you have recently separated from or divorced. Many times disagreements over visitation, custody, or property can cause you or your spouse to fall into disagreements. If you are worried that your spouse might try to commit a violent act towards you or steal property or your children because of a disagreement, you have the right to express the need for a restraining order.

If you feel that you need one of these court-orders to keep an ex-spouse away, then talk to a family lawyer about your concerns right away. Also, if your divorce has been contested from the outset, you might want to talk to a family lawyer about you various concerns. Maybe you need assistance in arranging your property and making sure that your spouse pays the right amount of spousal and child support. Whatever your concerns, having a legal representative there will help you immensely. You need to secure a family lawyer in your area who will be there beside you all throughout the divorce and beyond. If you get into a disagreement with an ex-spouse, you will want this legal representative to be by your side to help you arrange a court date.