Todd Palin, 55, has filed for divorce from wife Sarah Palin after 31 years of marriage, five kids, and three grandchildren together. In documents filed September 6 (Todd’s birthday) in Anchorage, Alaska, the snow machine racer said that his split from the former Governor of Alaska is due to “incompatibility of temperament between the parties such that they find it impossible to live together as husband and wife,” according to the Anchorage Daily News. He has also requested joint custody of their 11-year-old son, Trig Palin, who has Down Syndrome. Their four other kids — Bristol, Willow, Piper, and Track Palin — are all over 18 years old.
Todd’s attorney, Kimberlee Colbo, requested in a filing that the court keep the details of the divorce confidential moving forward, according to the outlet. The couple had just celebrated their 31st wedding anniversary just eight days prior, on August 29. Todd And Sarah eloped in 1988 and had their firstborn, daughter Bristol, in October 1990. The Palin family rose to fame in 2008, when the late Senator John McCain picked Sarah to be his running mate on the Republican presidential ticket. She quickly drew attention due to her quirky personality and behavior, as well as for being a Tina Fey look alike. Sarah became one of her most famous Saturday Night Live characters because of that.
The Palin family has been no stranger to drama. Bristol became pregnant at the age of 17 while Sarah was still on the campaign trail. Since then, she’s had two other children, and starred on a season of Teen Mom OG, which her mother appeared on several times; she left the series in April 2019. Though Todd has largely kept out of the spotlight, he made headlines in December 2017 for a particularly terrible reason. Track, then 28, allegedly beat him bloody after telling his armed father to shoot him. Sarah called 911, telling the operator that Track was “freaking out and was on some type of medication.” He was arrested later by Wasilla, Alaska police.