The adage, “Money leads to unhappiness” might certainly have validity in certain contexts and instances, but evidence in the realm of family law also makes it apparent that having sufficient assets contributes mightily to freedom.
As in the freedom to divorce, says an author on that subject. Indeed, Debra Schoenberg says that it is the lack of money that has rendered many couples across the country unhappy in recent years, with the so-called Great Recession resulting in asset depletion that has diminished prospects for divorcing and starting anew.
In other words, the job losses, market crumbling and diminution of home values in recent times have kept many would-be divorcing couples across the country, including in Colorado, together, when marital dissolution was their preferred choice.
Well, that’s now changing, says Schoenberg, with the pendulum swinging back as the economy chugs ahead, clearing itself of the debris that has straitjacketed the savings of millions of Americans and curbed their personal freedoms.
Rising home values across the country are integral to that change, reintroducing an asset of real substance that is once again at the core of property division considerations. With house values underwater in recent years in many areas, couples flatly had nothing to divide. With the dramatic turnaround that now marks properties in myriad locales, divorcing spouses once again have something truly appreciable to count as divisible marital property.
And that development will serve as the fuel to relieve the pent-up demand for divorces in the national marketplace, says Schoenberg.
“Couples now have more wealth as they consider divorce,” she says, “which lessens the financial impact.”
Source: Los Angeles Times, “Divorces increase as improving economy makes split-ups affordable,” Stuart Pfeifer, Sept. 18, 2013
