I am a 53-year-old woman, and my husband and I are the same age. We have been married for 24 years. We have two sons in university and a daughter in her final year of senior high school.
Shortly after our marriage, my husband lost his job in Accra and could not find another despite many attempts. We moved to the village to start over. Through a friend, he later secured another job, but it was in Accra, so he returned there, leaving me behind with our first child, who was two years old. I was also six months pregnant at the time.
The job paid poorly, so he rarely sent money or came home as promised. I survived by doing petty trading throughout the pregnancy and after delivery. He only visited again when our second child was almost a year old, stayed briefly, and left me a small amount of money.
When I later heard he was struggling in Accra, I began sending him money from my own hard work. Eventually, through another acquaintance, I helped him secure a job at a bank. That marked a turning point in his career. Even then, he did not bring us to Accra until five years later.
After we reunited, he still did not support the household financially. I single-handedly paid for our children’s education up to this point. His excuse was always that he was building a house, a project I have not seen for nearly 15 years.
Recently, I discovered that my husband has another family in Accra: a woman and two children he has been raising. The children are now about 20 and 16 years old. My son uncovered this, and all our children are deeply hurt and angry. When confronted, my husband admitted it was true.
My children want me to divorce him and no longer wish to recognise him as their father. I am torn. I have suffered greatly in this marriage, but I also have no property or savings of my own because everything I earned went into raising our children.
Please, I am asking for advice. If I divorce him, what am I entitled to? Can I take him to court? I cannot simply walk away with nothing after all these years of sacrifice.
