Law.com Subscribers SAVE 30%

Call 855-808-4530 or email [email protected] to receive your discount on a new subscription.

The Psychology of Money in Marriage

By Donna Laikind
January 01, 2004

You see these power plays in your office every day: A divorcing couple owns a million-dollar house, and it makes sense to sell it and divide the assets. The wife refuses, saying, “I won't have a roof over my head without this house.” Or she wants to move, and he says, “I'm not going to give in to her the way I used to.”

Money is not seen by these people as the commodity it should be. Instead, it is fraught with feelings, messages and beliefs from family, society and personal experience. If money were seen as a commodity, your job would be much clearer.

Now, a new generation of therapists is emerging who are looking at money issues as an integral part of couples' problems with power and entitlement. The novel ideas being developed could be useful not only in the context of the therapy session, but also in the attorney's office, where it may sometimes be difficult to understand why a client or his or her spouse is making demands that seem to make little rational sense. In sharing some of these new therapeutic concepts with those in the legal profession, this article sets the stage for a better understanding of what may be behind a divorcing couple's outward behavior. From this understanding can come ideas on how to overcome the roadblocks to successful negotiated settlements.

Read These Next
Major Differences In UK, U.S. Copyright Laws Image

This article highlights how copyright law in the United Kingdom differs from U.S. copyright law, and points out differences that may be crucial to entertainment and media businesses familiar with U.S law that are interested in operating in the United Kingdom or under UK law. The article also briefly addresses contrasts in UK and U.S. trademark law.

The Article 8 Opt In Image

The Article 8 opt-in election adds an additional layer of complexity to the already labyrinthine rules governing perfection of security interests under the UCC. A lender that is unaware of the nuances created by the opt in (may find its security interest vulnerable to being primed by another party that has taken steps to perfect in a superior manner under the circumstances.

Strategy vs. Tactics: Two Sides of a Difficult Coin Image

With each successive large-scale cyber attack, it is slowly becoming clear that ransomware attacks are targeting the critical infrastructure of the most powerful country on the planet. Understanding the strategy, and tactics of our opponents, as well as the strategy and the tactics we implement as a response are vital to victory.

Legal Possession: What Does It Mean? Image

Possession of real property is a matter of physical fact. Having the right or legal entitlement to possession is not "possession," possession is "the fact of having or holding property in one's power." That power means having physical dominion and control over the property.

The Anti-Assignment Override Provisions Image

UCC Sections 9406(d) and 9408(a) are one of the most powerful, yet least understood, sections of the Uniform Commercial Code. On their face, they appear to override anti-assignment provisions in agreements that would limit the grant of a security interest. But do these sections really work?