Law Blog

Almost everyone knows what Prenuptial Agreements do: they are premarital agreements for the division of property following a divorce. What no one really knows is how many of them exist. Data from Legalmatch.com client intake reports, however, shows that these agreements are most popular for the following age brackets: 

AGE                % CLIENTS SEEKING PRENUPS

18-25               11%
26-32               23%
33-39               21%
40-46               18%
47-53               14%
54-60               6%
61-67               2%
68 and above    1%

The median age for a first marriage in the United States is 26. Most second marriages (i.e. where at least one of the spouses has been married before) occur after the age of 35. Although most experts think prenuptial agreements are most common for second marriages, LegalMatch’s numbers show that a large number of people younger than 35 are getting prenuptial agreements.

Nothing wrong with that, and most divorce attorneys think it’s a wise idea for people to officially designate what is and is not separate property prior to their marriage, whether it’s their first, second, or 16th. If folks going through a second marriage are doing it, that probably means it would have been a wise idea the first time around as well.

Besides being nasty, bitter, and sometimes deadly, divorce is big business. Millions of dollars per year are pumped into the courts and into attorney fees to settle costly divorce cases. Last year alone, over tens of thousands of clients nationwide logged onto LegalMatch.com seeking divorce attorneys. It is generally assumed that divorce will be a long, hard battle, testing emotions and pocketbooks alike.

But is there an alternative? Yes, mediation. It saves time and potentially a lot of money. Surprisingly however, in 2008 only 9% of the thousands of LegalMatch family law clients stated that they and their partner were willing to consider first seeking the advice of a qualified mediator to settle their divorce. 16% stated they did not know what mediation was, and 32% said that they were willing to try mediation, but were unsure of whether their spouse would. Almost 40% dismissed it outright, with the vast majority stating that their spouse would not agree.

At its most basic level, mediation allows the couple to decide their own divorce terms, and not rely on a distant and impartial judge. So why are almost 90% of couples seeking divorce at LegalMatch either unwilling or not ready to perform Mediation, or unsure of what it is? Doesn’t this sound better than putting the future of your loved ones and everything you own into the hands of a 3^rd party?

To a rational mind, perhaps. Unfortunately, divorce is rarely if ever rational. Although mediation is quicker and costs less than a divorce; although the agreement has the same effect as a litigated divorce decree; although experienced legal professionals are still involved and still inform couples of the legal ramifications of their agreement, the most likely culprit preventing this streamlined and cheaper alternative is simple: communication, or lack thereof. Emotions run high in divorce, and this means the lines of communication are often severed. Or, disenchanted couples form a “winner take all attitude” and cannot fathom the possibility of sitting in the same room and reaching a negotiated settlement with their spouse, even with the assistance of an experienced mediator.

Mediation is a very different animal from your average divorce settlement. For one, there is no adversarial relationship in the trial sense. There are not two competing family law attorneys zealously advocating for their respective clients. Instead, there is generally one mediator sitting in the room with the unhappy couple attempting to get them to reach a settlement between themselves. This is a difficult step to take, and also a difficult mindset to adopt in the midst of a divorce. The fact that most LegalMatch respondents were unsure of whether their spouse would be willing to try mediation shows that communication has often completely broke down when couples reach the important stage of wanting to officially proceed with their divorce.

It is unfortunate that such a tragic time in a family’s life is further compounded by a messy and expensive court battle. Perhaps if more couples were aware of the benefits of mediation, they could avoid the extra burden placed on everyone by undergoing divorce litigation.

I know we still have a few months left in 2008, but I was curious: which U.S. States have the most divorces?  We all have hunches on which states are the most likely to grant a divorce, but I wanted facts.  So I dug deep into the LegalMatch database, and came out with more than a few surprises.

First off, over 50% of all divorces on LegalMatch are posted in the top 10 states.  52% to be exact, meaning the remaining 40 states (plus the outlying territories like Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, etc., and pseudo states like the District of Columbia) together account for 48% of the divorces on LegalMatch in 2008.  This is surprising, because LegalMatch has cases and attorneys throughout the U.S. 

Why so many divorces in the top 10 U.S. states?  Population has to be a big factor: the bigger the state, the more divorces will happen.  Since LegalMatch is an online matching service, the results may also skew towards Net savvy states.  And what about social pressures?  Some states seem to take divorce more seriously than others, applying negative stigmas, and creating extra legal hurdles for couples to jump through before they can go their separate ways. 

Enough jabber – the divorce totals, please. 

Coming in at #10 through #6, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Virginia, and Illinois all tied with 4% each of all divorce filing on LegalMatch in 2008.  That’s a pretty good smattering of states from different parts of the country – no clear trend there. 

North Carolina and New York shared the #5 and #4 spots with 5% each of LegalMatch 2008 divorce filings.  North Carolina… really? 

Florida came in at #3 with 6% of 2008 divorce filings on LegalMatch.  I would have guessed top 3.  It’s nice to be right every so often.

And now what I consider the biggest surprise: California came in at #2, with 8% of all divorce filings on LegalMatch in 2008.   I would have pegged California as number 1, since some celebrity marriages get annulled before the best man’s speech is over. 

Unfortunately (or fortunately, I guess, if you really want to leave your spouse), the #1 distinction rests with… TEXAS.  In 2008, Texas accounted for 10% of all of LegalMatch’s divorce filings.  The Lone Star state is apparently also the Lone Spouse state.