re: Husband cheated and left wife. Before leaving, he took out a HELOC on their house

That $45k isn’t going to take him very far. So once he’s burned through that and lost his job because his superiors fire him out of spite for his shitty moral code, his new fling will take off.

One way or the other the big man upstairs seems to find a way to provide a rock bottom for people like this & a huge uplift to people like your mother. Give it time.