On behalf of Ronald H. Kauffman, P.A. posted in Divorce on Thursday, October 31, 2013.
Florida is a No Fault state for divorce. You don’t need a reason to divorce. Still, it is interesting to know why people divorce. A recent study out of the UK reveals some surprising reasons why people divorce, and adultery is a declining factor.
It appears that couples are less likely to cite adultery as the cause of a divorce than they were 40 years ago. However, claims of “unreasonable behavior” (a British term) have skyrocketed to more than 5 million divorce cases.
Unreasonable behavior include: making a spouse feel guilty for going out with her friends; a cross-dressing husband who decided to have a sex change; and a spouse withdrawing all the family savings and burning it in the bedroom.
The Guardian newspaper reports on a survey comparing the grounds for divorce in the 70s, 80s, 90s and 2000s as well as the present day.
In the 1970s, 29% of marriages ended because of adultery, the latest figures show only 15% of divorces were down to infidelity. In the 70s unreasonable behavior was cited in 28% of cases but it now accounts for almost half of all divorces (47%).
In the 1980s – the yuppie era – had the most adulterous break-ups – with nearly one in three (29%) of all divorces granted due to cheating on a partner. In the same decade, almost one in five divorces were down to the husband’s infidelity.
While you only need to allege an irretrievable break in the marriage to file for divorce in Florida, it is always interesting to see trends in divorces over time, even when they are from overseas.
The Guardian article can be read here.