He filed...

[Michael Mc C]

I swear that he filed for D in order to legitimize the affair. So, if he's getting D then it's a "real" relationship to the outside world, right???

You are on the money with this. When the OM first appeared my wife didn't speak to any of her friends about it. It was an affair of course. When she decided that we were through, and she had convinced herself that we were separated longer than her affair was going on, she suddenly started telling everyone the good news. She said she would be honest to everyone. "I won't cheapen this. You hide an affair, you hide a fling, you celebrate true love."