We have all either heard of or seen the past television show called "Cheaters."

"To catch a cheating spouse on tape" was its sole aim, for the benefit of both the other party and for the television audience to which the show was broadcast.

Bad as it may seem to stick a private investigator and cameras on one's spouse as they carry out the process of having an affair, this still does not qualify as the worst of the dirty divorce tricks used by divorcing spouses for the purpose of humiliating and embarrassing the other party.

Sexual abuse of any kind, much less a situation involving a minor child, is a very serious issue and not one to be taken lightly.

Unfortunately, there are those folks out there who don't take to heart the consequences of making a claim such as this and will therefore use the abuse accusation as a way to wield power over the opposing spouse.

Imagine this scenario: you and your spouse are getting a divorce. Your spouse is so bitter and angry at the prospect of the marriage breaking up that he or she now decides to sit down and figure out the most effective way to dig below the belt for the upcoming divorce proceedings.

He or she chooses to go the route of the sexual abuse allegation. But it is not just any kind of claim, as he or she has also opted to involve your best friend and your minor child, even going so far as to schedule an appointment with a child psychologist to closely examine the behavior of the adolescent in an effort to either prove the abuse declaration.

And the worst of it is that while the whole story is being played out, the perpetrating spouse knows all along about its falsity!

As they say in the world of Hollywood writers, "it has been done before." This phrase also aptly applies to the divorce process - no matter how bizarre or outlandish a divorce act may seem, it is not shocking or surprising to the family law judge since he has "seen it all."

Matter of fact, most divorce judges would say it is an abnormal experience to preside over straightforward simple divorce cases sans drama or heinous revenge acts of some kind!

Returning to the cheating scenario, it is also not unusual for the victim spouse to walk in and catch his or her significant other in the marital bed, with someone else, engaged in full-on sexual intercourse. As though this was not bad enough, said adulterous act is generally committed because the cheating spouse desires a divorce but doesn't want to ask for one; instead the aim of the affair is to "force" the other party into filing by hoping that person is insulted enough by the cheating behavior that a asking for a divorce is now a no-brainer.

Now imagine that the cheating spouse in the above situation carries on the affair with who just happens to be the close friend of the victim spouse. This path of course travels nowhere positive and consequently leads to the ultimate blow any divorcing person can encounter - his or her significant other in bed with someone he or she trusted to be loyal and not contribute to the divorce circumstances.

The long list of dirty divorce tricks does not stop here, as there is the service of fake divorce papers to the opposing party in order to make that person feel threatened.

A situation involving fake divorce papers occurs when one spouse obtains the divorce forms for the state where the court filing will take place.

Said spouse will fill out as much of the forms as he or she understands, and then either stick them in the mail or employ a mutual friend to hand the package over to the other party. And because most people are wary of court forms and would rather have a legal pro deal with them instead, it is therefore very easy for the scheming spouse to fill in certain portions to make the papers look more real and like they were prepared by a law professional, thus pulling a very dirty divorce trick on the other party by instilling fear about the upcoming marital dissolution.

To make matters worse, this kind of cruel ploy is generally used when the unsuspecting party has no idea that a divorce is the desire of his or her spouse; and instead of simply communicating that fact, the service of fake divorce papers accomplishes the task for the non-communicating spouse.

Unfortunately this is only the beginning of the dirty divorce tricks that spouses will participate in to make the other's life even more miserable.

Though there is no specific way to avoid being a victim in one of these schemes, it never hurts to stay in good communication with one's spouse, no matter how much bitterness may be involved, in order to lessen the chances of such an event occurring during divorce.