Circuit courts across the country have reported downturns in the number of divorce and separation filings.
Among many American couples, the trend appears to be a non-divorce were married couples who want to divorce choose to live in domestic limbo living as roommates, no sex, leading separate lives under one household.
Gary Nickelson, president of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML), said people are just, “toughing it out” and putting off the decision to divorce until the economy gets better. A 2008 poll by the AAML surveyed its members, who were all divorce lawyers and found that 37% of them had seen a decrease in the number of couples seeking a divorce.
The Wall Street Journal quoted Bonnie Booden, a family law and divorce attorney in Phoenix, saying a major factor in the divorce downturn is divorced couples have to establish two separate households with current funds — a prohibitive factor when you’re looking at divorce in tough economic times.
“We’re in a perfect storm as far as the divorce business is concerned. It’s not a surprise to me. That’s been my experience over the last 35 years. When you have an economic downturn people are not so quick to change their situation,”said Nickelson.
We now know that couples who were headed straight for divorce are choosing to stay together and “not so quick to change their situation” in the current economy. What happens to the children in these households? They can clearly see that mom and dad are not sleeping in the same room or talking to one another. How can we reach these couples with resources to increase better communication within their marriages?
