<b><i>Practice Tip:</b></i>Divorce: The Silver Lining

While many divorce lawyers may loathe getting involved with personal property division, this division has helped retail sales. Divorcing couples typically need to supplement their belongings after dividing their household items. Each spouse will usually buy some new furniture, appliances, d'cor, electronics and home maintenance equipment. Retail sales have been slowly improving as consumer confidence grows, promoted in part by divorcing couples who had put off their inevitable break up.

During the recession, high unemployment rates prevented stay-at-home parents from entering the job force. Consequently, many stay-at-home or part-time working parents did not have opportunities to seek or improve their employment. This kept many spouses tied to unhappy marriages because they simply did not have the economic resources to get divorced. But with the improving economy, employment opportunities have also improved, offering unemployed or under employed spouses better employment options. This is particularly true for many women who stayed home to raise children. Many of these women have had to re-enter the work force to sustain themselves and their children, but had to delay divorcing their spouse until their employment opportunities improved. This overall influx of workers in the job market has further strengthened the U.S. labor market.

The improving economy has also been an impetus for divorce. When housing prices, retirement accounts and investments plummeted between 2007 and 2008, many unhappy couples could not afford to get divorced. These couples saw the value of their assets suddenly drop by 15% to 40%.

This dramatic reduction in asset value, together with the legal fees needed for divorce, which would only further reduce asset values, kept many ill-fated marriages intact. As asset values have steadily increased, the economic flexibility for these couples has led to their ability to separate and divorce and hire matrimonial attorneys, who then benefit from the improved economy and higher rate of divorce.

' Julia Swain, Fox Rothschild LLP.

Divorce rates are on the rise as the U.S. economy slowly improves and rebounds from the recession. While some may view a rise in divorce as a negative statistic, there is a positive corresponding impact: Separating couples actually help further improve the economy. This applies not only to divorce lawyers' bottom line, but also to the real estate and consumer markets and our labor force.

The U.S. Census Bureau reported that divorce rates significantly dropped during the recession between 2007 and 2008, despite having been on an upward trajectory for prior decades. According to economic and U.S. data sources, divorce rates more than doubled between the 1940s and the 1980s. It then dropped by one-third in 2009, at which time divorce rates were lower than they have been in the past 40 years. But, over the past few years, divorce rates have been steadily increasing, with 2.4 million divorce filings in 2012.

Divorcing couples typically require at least one new home for the departing spouse, and sometimes two new homes if the marital residence is listed for sale. This dynamic has increased both the supply and demand for housing, which has helped improve the construction industry, real estate sales and real estate rentals.

While many divorce lawyers may loathe getting involved with personal property division, this division has helped retail sales. Divorcing couples typically need to supplement their belongings after dividing their household items. Each spouse will usually buy some new furniture, appliances, d'cor, electronics and home maintenance equipment. Retail sales have been slowly improving as consumer confidence grows, promoted in part by divorcing couples who had put off their inevitable break up.

During the recession, high unemployment rates prevented stay-at-home parents from entering the job force. Consequently, many stay-at-home or part-time working parents did not have opportunities to seek or improve their employment. This kept many spouses tied to unhappy marriages because they simply did not have the economic resources to get divorced. But with the improving economy, employment opportunities have also improved, offering unemployed or under employed spouses better employment options. This is particularly true for many women who stayed home to raise children. Many of these women have had to re-enter the work force to sustain themselves and their children, but had to delay divorcing their spouse until their employment opportunities improved. This overall influx of workers in the job market has further strengthened the U.S. labor market.

The improving economy has also been an impetus for divorce. When housing prices, retirement accounts and investments plummeted between 2007 and 2008, many unhappy couples could not afford to get divorced. These couples saw the value of their assets suddenly drop by 15% to 40%.

This dramatic reduction in asset value, together with the legal fees needed for divorce, which would only further reduce asset values, kept many ill-fated marriages intact. As asset values have steadily increased, the economic flexibility for these couples has led to their ability to separate and divorce and hire matrimonial attorneys, who then benefit from the improved economy and higher rate of divorce.

' Julia Swain, Fox Rothschild LLP.