They leave little to be spared, as anyone with children probably knows.
The children are his and his oh-so-bitter ex-wife's. I suppose I would be bitter too if I had 3 kids and a failed marriage.
My opinion on marriage is that it only fails for lack of trying, lack of communication and general exhaustion from lying to ourselves about who that person really is. Not necessarily who they were when you met them but who they are now.
Things happen in life that change you and the reality with marriage is you're contractually bound to this person for their mistakes as well as their successes. I suppose that means you ought to choose wisely or at least play wait-and-see until you further attach yourself by spawning.
Just my opinion. This is also why at 27 I have no children and have not been married. In my idyllic minds eye I plan on at least making babies with someone reasonable. Sadly, reasonable seems to be harder to find than I anticipated.
But in the meantime, I am playing part-time adult figure and rather enjoying it. It's the most awkward, and a non-committal way of trying out parenting.
