Man Requests Sword Fight With Ex-Wife And Lawyer To Settle Legal Issues

The end of a marriage is a sad thing, but it can be extra painful/exhausting if the split was acrimonious and you just can’t seem to agree on the terms of the split. That’s certainly the case for David Ostrom and his ex-wife Bridget, who are in an ongoing legal battle that David believes only a sword fight can solve.

  1. David and Bridget are struggling to see eye to eye. David and Bridget have been fighting over custody and visitation issues and property tax payments and David claims that his ex and her lawyer, Matthew Hudson, have “destroyed him legally.” As such, he filed a motion at an Iowa court on January 3 asking a judge to allow him to fight his former wife and the lawyer with swords to settle things once and for all.
  2. It’s not exactly illegal, to be fair… David wrote in the motion that it was up to the judge to allow the parties to “resolve our disputes on the field of battle, legally.” He also pointed out that trial by combat “has never been explicitly banned or restricted as a right in these United States.” He has a point!
  3. He needs time to get his affairs in order. Samurai swords aren’t particularly easy to come by, so David also asked the judge to allow him up to 12 weeks to acquire some authentic Japanese katanas and wakizashi swords in preparation for the battle.
  4. This is all the lawyer’s fault really. David, 38, said that he filed the motion because of Hudson’s ridiculous requests which included suggesting that David undergo a psychiatric evaluation and that he lose visitation rights with his kids. “I think I’ve met Mr. Hudson’s absurdity with my own absurdity,” he said, adding that he would be fine with having Bridget appoint Hudson as her champion in the duel.
  5. David knows the idea is ridiculous. While he’s not totally serious about wanting to have a sword fight, he filed the motion to draw more attention to the case as he feels he’s being treated unfairly. In an interview with KCTV, David lamented the way the system is “stacked against men” when it comes to custody battles. “I’m not interested in physically causing harm to anyone… No one pays attention to what I think is a hardship on myself and my children,” he said. “They’ve tried to ignore me, not address equal custody, and I think this puts a spotlight on them.”
  6. Absurd or not, this would be amazing. According to the Des Moines Register, David said that he wanted to meet Bridget and Matthew Hudson “on the field of battle where [he] will rend their souls from their corporal bodies.” Hudson responded that the request was dumb since a) David misspelled “corporeal” and because the results of physical combat sort of outweigh the court issues they’re having.
  7. The judge hasn’t yet ruled in the request. The judge hasn’t denied David’s request, but he has said that no decision will be made either way until both parties’ motions are done properly. “Until the proper procedural steps to initiate a court proceeding are followed, this court will take no further action concerning any motion, objection or petition filed by either party at this time,” the judge said.

Jennifer Still is a writer and editor with more than 10 years of experience. The managing editor of Bolde, she has bylines in Vanity Fair, Business Insider, The New York Times, Glamour, Bon Appetit, and many more. You can follow her on Twitter @jenniferlstill
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