Family Law

Separated Spouses Waiting out Recession before Divorce

By ckramer

Couples in marital trouble are waiting for the economic downturn to end before getting a divorce, according a Washington Post article.

In what the article calls the Great Recession, couples that probably should or want to dissolve are holding off in hopes that housing prices will return to normal and job prospects will improve.

Often, in these stressed out financial times, a money shortage can mean that there is not enough to support two separate households, or to hire the lawyers necessary to carry out divorce proceedings.

According to the Washington Post, the number of couples staying together past their expiration date is rising. This can mean that couples don?t actually follow through with the paperwork of a divorce, or that they take measures to save money, like living together while they separate emotionally.

In other words, an already difficult process becomes, in tough economic times, that much more complicated and nuanced.
The Post spoke with a number of divorce lawyers and divorcing couples who have been on the front lines of the changing divorce landscape.

David Goldberg is a divorce lawyer and a mediator in Virginia. In his 44 years in the business of family law, he claims not to have seen a comparable environment before. ?I have lots of files sitting in the drawer, where people can?t move of forward,? he said. ?I have a lot of clients who have ended up in bankruptcy.?

Paulene Foster is a federal worker who has put her divorce on hold as a result of money problems, choosing to delay the proceedings for a year. She also shared a house with her estranged husband. She lived upstairs in their suburban townhouse, while he lived in the basement. The arrangement lasted for months.

?It was a mess,? said Foster, stating what may seem to be the obvious. She finally filed for divorce last month, paying $105 in fees at a self-help law clinic.

At a law firm in Woodbridge, Virginia, almost a quarter of clients pursuing divorce are still living with the spouse from whom they are estranged. Often, such couples live in houses where they wouldn?t be able to cover their debt by selling, and they would rather live together as an estranged couple than live apart under new debt.

Or, in the words of the article, ?How do they start over if debt is all that?s left to divide??

For Marissa Fuller, a childcare worker, economic hardship led to the failure of her marriage, and ultimately to simultaneous divorce and bankruptcy when her husband lost his job and bills piled up. Of the stresses of money trouble on her relationship, she said, ?that really made the marriage crumble.?

The divorce rate saw a steady decline during 2008, the first year of the recession, rather than the spike that one might expect given the number of studies that show links between divorce rates and economic hardship.

Dividing a marriage in a divorce can be expensive. Paying for another household, and coordinating legal fees, is a daunting task. In a new economic environment, couples are learning new ways to navigate the process, facing new challenges with new, and perhaps less than ideal, solutions.

Full post as published by The Divorce Blog on March 26, 2010 (boomark / email).