Women Make The First Move In Most Divorce Cases

By now, it is common knowledge that more divorce filings occur on the first business Monday in January than on any other day of the year; that day even goes by the name Divorce Monday.  Did you know that most of the people who file divorce petitions or initiate contact with divorce lawyers on Divorce Monday, or on any other day of the year, are women?  According to Katie Bishop of BBC news, 90 percent of divorce filings in the United Kingdom are done by women; the numbers are probably similar in the United States.  Bishop offers several possible explanations for this, including the fact that many women who initiate divorce feel burnt out by doing a disproportionate share of caregiving for children and elders while also devoting as much time as their husbands to paid employment.  She also advances the claim that women are more emotionally intelligent, and therefore they are the first to figure out that the marriage is beyond repair, but she offers no evidence for this.  None of this takes away the sting of not knowing that your spouse has given up on your marriage until you see a divorce petition with your name listed as the respondent, but if you are in that situation, contact a Boca Raton divorce lawyer.

What to Do If You Are the Last to Know That Your Marriage Is Over

A divorce petition contains not only a request for the court to dissolve your marriage but also requests for how the court should divide the marital property and, if you and your spouse have minor children, how to divide parenting time.  If your spouse files a divorce petition and you don’t respond within 30 days, the court will dissolve your marriage and grant all of your spouse’s requests.  This means that, if you ignore the divorce petition, you automatically lose.  You must do something, and you must do it quickly.  These are some actions you can take:

• Make one more attempt at reconciliation with your spouse. Remedy the problem that your spouse has long been saying was ruining your marriage (for example, move out of your parents’ house, cut off contact with your ex-girlfriend, or enter alcohol rehab) to show that you are serious about making a permanent change.  It is possible to withdraw a divorce petition, and your spouse may agree not to divorce you.
• Hire a divorce lawyer, who will help you draft a response to the divorce petition.
• If your spouse’s requests are relatively simple, draft a response on your own. You and your spouse can always work out additional details in mediation as your case progresses.

Contact Schwartz | White After Receiving an Unexpected Divorce Petition

Responding to a divorce petition is not about fighting, but rather about making the best of a bad situation.  A South Florida divorce lawyer can help you if you have just received the unpleasant surprise news that your marriage is beyond repair.  Contact Schwartz | White in Boca Raton, Florida about your case.

Source:

bbc.com/worklife/article/20220511-why-women-file-for-divorce-more-than-men