It has just been revealed that Mary Kay Letourneau and Vili Fualaau have once again filed for a legal separation, and now, new details about their breakup has been revealed.

A source close to the couple said that they have been trying to make their marriage work for years.

“They tried everything,” said the source, “but it was like a house of cards. They’d start building the house, and then it would fall apart. And then they’d start building again, and it would fall again. They just couldn’t get anything solid to work.”

The couple controversially met when Fualaau was just 12 years-old and Letourneau was his sixth grade teacher. She became pregnant with Fualaau’s children twice before he was 15, and eventually was sentenced to seven years in prison for child rape.

After her release, Fualaau was legally an adult and petitioned the state to lift the restraining order keeping them apart. While the order was lifted, Letourneau remains a registered sex offender in Washington state.

Letourneau and Fualaau, now 57 and 35 respectively, married in 2005. Since then, they have had to be public about their relationship to make money.

“There have been money troubles,” the source said. “That’s why they’ve had to talk about their relationship for paid interviews; they’ve needed the cash. Do you think they’ve enjoyed talking about her past as a sex offender, and him as a 12-year-old? And answering questions about how often they had sex? No. It’s embarassing. But that’s how they’ve supplemented their income for years.”

“He isn’t pulling in the cash, and she didn’t make much money as a legal assistant,” the source added. “So they have to sell their story to anyone who will pay them, even if they don’t want to. Their past has caught up with them.”

On top of all that, the couple’s age difference appears to have finally caught up with them.

“She’s pushing 60, and he’s in his mid-30s,” said the source “He’s never had another girlfriend. He’s never really dated. And I think he’s just decided that he needs to see if there’s more out there for him.”

It was Fualaau who filed for a legal separation, and it has been confirmed that the couple is moving forward and finalizing their split.