Bad Economy Makes Divorce Issues More Difficult

Family Law

Bad Economy Makes Divorce Issues More Difficult

Posted May 9, 2008, 08:05 am CDT
By Debra Cassens Weiss

Divorce lawyers say the troubled economy is complicating financial issues in divorces—and even discouraging divorce filings.

Lawyer Henry Gornbein of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., told Dolan Media Newswires that the downturn in the housing market is hitting divorcing couples particularly hard.

“The two largest assets in a divorce are typically the home and the pension,” Gornbein said. “The stock market has plunged, so 401(k)s are worth a lot less, and as for houses, we are having a number of cases where people have mortgaged their homes to the hilt and often have negative equity.” Now, he says, some couples are splitting debt rather than assets.

Barbara Handschu, president of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, told the newswire that her clients around Buffalo, N.Y., are more hard hit than those in Manhattan. Because of financial problems, some couples “may be more inclined to try to stick [the marriage] out for a while,” she said.

She predicts that family practitioners will be seeing more requests from clients who want to reduce child support or relocate because of job losses or changes caused by the economy.

Lawyer Heather Cooper of Fairfax, Va., said some couples are so hard-hit by financial problems that they are divorcing but staying in the same home.

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