Infidelity is a non-negotiable for many married couples. Once you have learned that your spouse cheated, there is often no going back. But what would happen if you learned that your spouse was unfaithful to you several years ago? What if the affair happened five decades ago?

Such long-ago infidelity is reportedly responsible for the end of a 77-year-marriage. Media reports indicate that a 99-year-old man decided to file for divorce from his 96-year-old wife after learning of an affair she had in the 1940s. But there may be more to this story: it was also reported that the couple has had marital problems in the past, so perhaps the affair was simply the last straw.

The husband was reportedly going through an old chest of drawers a few days before Christmas when he came across letters written by his wife to a man he did not know. He confronted his wife, and she confessed that she had been involved with another man during an affair in the 1940s. The husband became very upset about the 50-year-old betrayal, and decided to file for divorce from his wife of nearly eight decades.

The husband and wife met and married in the 1930s, and have since resided in Rome. They have five children together, as well as 12 grandchildren and at least one great-grandchild.

Their marriage was troubled long before the admission of infidelity, reports indicate. Ten years ago, the husband left the couple's home and moved in with one of his sons for a few weeks. He eventually returned home to his wife, but the divorce filing makes it clear that their marriage never fully recovered.

Source: Telegraph, "99-year-old divorces wife after he discovered 1940s affair," Nick Squires, Dec. 29, 2011