Living Together Before Marriage can Increase the chances of Divorce!

News Source : Google

Couples living together before marrying have a higher chance of getting divorced than those who wait until they were engaged or married, according to research out Tuesday in the Journal of Family Psychology.

The study, carried out by researchers from the University of Denver, also found that couples who lived together before marrying reported lower marriage satisfaction.

“We think that some couples who move in together without a clear commitment to marriage may wind up sliding into marriage partly because they are already cohabiting,” said senior researcher and study co-author Galena Rhoades.

“It seems wise to talk about commitment and what living together might mean for the future of the relationship before moving in together, especially because cohabiting likely makes it harder to break up compared to dating,” said another researcher, Scott Stanley.

More than 70 percent of couples in the United States live together before marrying, according to the article.

Yet the researchers “have found evidence that cohabiting before engagement, even only with one’s future spouse, is associated with lower marital quality and higher divorce potential,” the article read.

In a separate study that appeared in the Journal of Family Issues, the researchers studied the reasons why couples chose to live together.

The most common answer was because they wanted to spend more time together, followed by convenience, followed by testing the relationship.

Earlier research suggested that people cohabited before marrying because they wanted to test their relationship.

“Cohabiting to test a relationship turns out to be associated with the most problems in relationships,” said Rhoades.

All You Need to Know About Separation Agreement

A separation agreement is a legally binding contract between two individuals that contains many of the same characteristics as a divorce decree, but the individuals remain legally married, even though they are typically physically separated.

A separation agreement can be as broad or narrow as both parties desire, and can include the following:

Child support
Child custody is very important and both parties would need to find middle ground in order for it to work. Decide with whom the children will live during the term of the agreement and depending on the children’s age, at which age they can decide for themselves with which parent they would want to live with.

Child custody and visitation
Both Parties need to agree beforehand on the visitation hours and days which the other party can visit the children and access to the children on public holidays, birthdays and school vacations.

Division of property
Property division can be a stalling point for many. Most divorces are defended on the bases of property. The best idea is to decide how the property gets divided. Each party makes a list of goods they want, be it because they use it most often or that it might have sentimental value to them.

A separation agreement can convert into a divorce agreement at a later date if a party elects to file for divorce.

Who requests a separation agreement and why?

Many people request a separation agreement. Some of the more common situations include:

• Someone who has been in a relationship for a very long time and is not ready for a divorce, but acknowledges that a change is needed, will often request a separation agreement.
• Someone who is covered by their spouse’s insurance and needs to remain legally married for insurance benefits will often request a separation agreement.
• Couples who want to stay married but are concerned with exposure to liability by one of the parties will request a separation agreement so community property can be divided and one spouse’s assets can remain protected and shielded from the other spouse’s liability exposure.
• Couples who are not comfortable with divorce due to religious beliefs.

Divorce Settlement Changes

News Source: cb3.com

Everywhere you look these days, the economy is making an impact-even in divorces. More and more couples have to renegotiate settlements because their financial situation has changed.

This definitely a growing trend. You just want to make sure you cover yourself legally.

As a single mom, Joni Carley worried when expenses for her two sons went way up.

“Economic changes were huge in these last few years,” said Carley.

She says she had no choice but to go back to court and try to change her divorce settlement.

Many people think a divorce decree signed by a judge is set in stone, but that’s not the case.

Renegotiation is common, even years after a marriage dissolves.

“Because divorces involve real people in real situations, real things happen to them. They get pay reductions. They lose their job. They get ill. They get disabled,” said attorney, Ike Vanden Eykel.

If you’re the one who is supposed to pay, but can’t, don’t ignore the problem.

“If you do nothing in a situation where you have a court ordered obligation, every day that goes by where you are not compliant with that order, things get worse,” said Vanden Eykel.

Start by speaking with your former spouse and then get your lawyer involved to make it all legal.

It’s always a good idea to get proof of any change in finances and set a time period for how long the new agreement will last.

“It needs to have some kind of ending date,” said Vanden Eykel.

Part of Joni’s settlement was renegotiated, but not everything. Her advice to others-try to work it out together, for the kids’ sake.

“The most important thing is for both parents to step up to the plate and do their best for the kids,” said Carley.

Divorce lawyers suggest other options to help both parties in this scenario.

For example, an ex may no longer be able to pay, but could swap assets such as a vehicle to help make up some of the difference, or lengthen the amount of time they are supposed to pay in exchange for paying less.

More couples turning to ‘postnup’ deals

A prenuptial agreement is a written agreement made by a couple who intend to get married, which sets out what should happen to their finances in the event of the breakdown of the marriage. A prenuptial agreement is also known as a premarital agreement.

With the legal status of Pre-nuptial agreements in England and Wales mired in controversy, wealthy couples are increasingly turning to postnuptial agreements – entered into after a marriage – to govern how their assets should be divided in the event of a divorce.

Last year, five senior judges sitting in the UK Privy Council backed the enforceability of the deals in the closely followed case of Macleod v Macleod.

While still a relatively new concept, “postnups” are often used in cases where a couple’s wealth has increased dramatically during the course of their marriage or when a relationship starts to falter but both parties want to try to make it work.

They also offer significant tax planning advantages, especially when wealth is being shifted from one generation to the next, says Jeffrey Nedas, a forensic matrimonial accountant.

With the credit crunch in effect forcing some husbands and wives to stay together, lawyers say that postnuptial deals allow couples to agree the outlines of a settlement while they wait for the economy to recover.