On behalf of Cobert, Haber & Haber Attorneys at Law posted in Divorce on Friday, April 10, 2015.
A study on the root causes of divorce in New York state and the rest of America shows a surprising trend. Cases where the husband is struck with a serious illness show no increase in the divorce rate. A couple is no more likely to experience a divorce when the husband becomes terribly ill. However, the reverse is not true.
The report showed an unmistakable rise in the divorce rate, well outside the margin of error for the study, that proves that a divorce is approximately 6 percent more likely when it is the wife that becomes seriously ill. The precise reasons why this may be true are not known, but experts speculate that the root causes may lie in the differences in societal gender specialization.
The study did not reveal who it was that requested the divorce in these cases. It is possible that wives are generally not satisfied by the care their partners give them. However, there is also the possibility that it was the healthy spouse that requested the dissolution of the union.
A divorce can be emotionally challenging at the best of times, but during an illness, the emotional weight might be overwhelming. An attorney may be able to help a divorcing spouse protect themselves and advocate for the fair disposition of the marital property, even when the spouse in question is too ill to devote themselves fully to the task. The spouse would also have the option of asking the attorney to represent them in any necessary meetings or court appearances.
Source: Deseret News, “Divorce more likely when wife has serious illness,” Lois M. Collins, March 6, 2015
