Every year, hundreds of couples divorce, and many more will follow suit. Despite this, it is still subject to countless myths that only lead to confusion, overwhelm, and stress.
These are typical divorce misconceptions people need to stop believing:
1. About 50% of Marriages End in Divorce
One of the notorious claims about divorce is that it kills about 50% of marriages in the United States. This belief has been going on since the 1980s.
In reality, calculating the divorce rate isn’t as simple as dividing it with the marriage rate. As this article from Insider stresses, the method is partly flawed since it assumes those who say I Do today are the same ones who will part ways within the same year.
Instead, the article proposes, it’s best to use numbers across time or generations. For example, how many people have marriages that lasted for 15 years? If you do that, then you’ll discover that over 60% of couples survive this long.
Further, more data revealed that the divorce rate in the United States is decreasing for many reasons. One, more people, especially millennials, prefer to get married late. Second, many couples decide to cohabitate than say I Do.
2. Only the Court Can Settle the Divorce
Divorce makes good TV and movie. What’s real, though, is that couples can skip the drama in the courtroom. Although the court grants the final judgment, the nitty-gritty can be way before that and behind closed doors.
Couples have many pathways to divorce, and they can be amicable, civil, and more stress-free. For example, if they’re in the Beehive State, each can work with a divorce attorney for an uncontested divorce. They can settle out of court as long as they agree with their arrangement on the following:
- Custody of children
- Division of assets
- Prenuptial agreement
- Spousal support or alimony
- Debt, savings, and other finances
This process is quick, fast, and cheap.
3. You Need Grounds for Divorce
The idea that one can divorce only when they have the “right reasons,” as outlined by law, is already archaic. Today, the states now allow no-fault divorce, which means any of the couples can file it without proving any wrongdoing of the other.
However, because laws can still vary between states, their divorce rules can fall into the following:
- No-fault rule with no waiting period
- No-fault rule with a waiting period
- No-fault rule but an ex-partner can also claim wrongdoing, usually for alimony, spousal support, or division of assets
- No-fault rule but an ex-partner can also claim wrongdoing, usually for alimony, spousal support, or division of assets, plus waiting period
Utah follows the last option. The waiting period can be as long as 30 days between the time they filed their divorce petition and the court order. However, they can also request to waive that.
This period is different from the 90-day rule. That is, couples would have to be a resident of the Utah county where you file for divorce for at least three months.
Divorce is already hard enough for many couples. Hopefully, misconceptions won’t make it even more difficult.
