If you’re going through a divorce in today’s digital world, you’ll likely go through numerous blogs, legal advice, and self-help websites. The information you find on the internet can be overwhelming, and you might even follow wrong information that causes you to make mistakes when filing for divorce. Incorrect information can make you misinterpret your state’s divorce laws and lose a lot of property to your significant other. As a result, you should hire a family lawyer, albeit this isn’t a requirement in some states.
When you have a team of experienced family law lawyers on your side, you benefit from their combined years of education, training, and experience. An experienced attorney at law family law will explain your rights and options. A family attorney will also help you understand the legal effects of any decisions in a legal place. Once you have all the correct information, you’ll be in a position to make rational decisions that address all your emotional and financial considerations. Finally, with the help of your attorney, you can prepare for divorce, and they will guide you so that the process can be as manageable as it can be. That said, continue reading to learn more about divorce settlements and how a lawyer can help you.
There’s no getting around it, divorce rates are high in the U.S., and they happen for a number of reasons. No matter the reason, though, couples contemplating or even going through a divorce should seek legal guidance. They should ask legal questions about divorce to find out exactly what’s in store for them, especially if there’s children involved or shared assets. Divorce can be messy and stressful, but with the right legal advice or family lawyer, it doesn’t have to be.
Just how high are divorce rates in the U.S.? Well, some researchers estimate that between 40%-50% of first time marriages will fail, and for second marriages, about 60% of them will fail. In fact, divorce is so common that there’s about one divorce every 36 seconds in the U.S. That equates out to nearly 876,000 divorces each year! Typically couples who married at a younger age, especially below the age of 20, have the highest divorce rate while those who waited to marry until after the age of 25 are much less likely to divorce.
The thing about divorce, it can happen any time. For some couples, it might happen a year into the marriage, for others, maybe ten or twenty years. The average, however, is about nine years. On average, couples going through their first divorce in the U.S. are 30 years old, and they often cite relationship stress as a leading factor that led to the divorce. When you consider that the fourth most common cause of stress in the U.S. is relationships, it’s more easy to understand how this might negatively impact a marriage.
It’s also especially important to ask legal questions about divorce if there’s a child or children in the mix. This can complicate things from a custody standpoint. Divorces that involve children are very common. In fact, each year parents of 1.5 million kids divorce. That’s a lot of custody battles, and a lot of stress for everyone involved. Oftentimes when divorce involves children, support awards are awarded to the parents to help with the raising and caring of the children. Custodial mothers tend to receive larger support awards, at 79.6% compared to the 29.6 that custodial fathers receive.
Even with the hassles and stress involved in divorce, legal aid can really help streamline the process. So for those thinking about or already in the throes of divorce, don’t be afraid to ask legal questions about divorce so that all parties can leave the table mutually satisfied, with as little bitterness as possible. A family lawyer can help with divorce papers and the overall divorce process. No one has to go at it alone.
