We remember what it was like falling in love all those years ago, seeing that person for the first time know they were the one you want to spend the rest of your life with; at least for now. That's the thing with love; you never know how long it will be there. Could it be a summer romance? A ten year season of bliss? Perhaps you and your lover are together for decades? Either way, you can never really tell how long that love will last, and then by that time there are children in the picture, you have shared properties, and the like. Because you held this view of fleeting love, you and your partner agreed to never officially tie the knot, though you lived like a married couple you never joined accounts, changed your name, or said "I do."
Flash forward down the road a few years, your children are now in school and you and your partner are realizing that your love has faded, and you are ready to move on. The only problem is that because you were never really married, you can't actually get a divorce; this makes things a bit complicating. One dad went through this exact experience, he describes his separation with his partner and the mother of his children extremely complicating. He shares that because they never got lawyers involved in the relationship, it made things more difficult.
According to reports, more and more couples are cohabitating, and seeking to experience the joys of marriage and sharing a life together without the commitment of marriage. In the United States, marriage rates are considered to be at an all-time low, with at least half of the kids being born today to woman younger than 30 years old coming into homes with parents who are not married. Due to the commonality of this cohabitation as opposed to marriage and even single parent households, when couples are breaking up it is making things much more complicating.
When you have a married couple who decides to call it quits, there is a specific legal process that they must go through in order to dissolve the relationship; and here they work through he details of separation such as child custody, child support, alimony, property division, etc. Unfortunately for those who are sharing children and have never been married, there is not legal process to help them get what is rightfully theirs in the separation, because they were never actually married.
The father that was mentioned above shared that because he and his partner never were married their break up went on for years because of the many details they had to work through. While many people often will choose to not get married because they feel it will be a taboo not heir relationship, studies often show that unmarried couples who have children are far more likely to separate than those who choose to tie the knot. According to the studies done by the University of Michigan, 28% of married couples will separate by the time their child reaches the age of 10; however, those who never were married and chose to cohabitate have a 66% separation rate.
A marriage counselor from New York claims that the act of marriage makes the relationship something worth fight for because there is so much more involved than just another person; people often fight to save their marriage. Without the legal and formal commitment of marriage, it can make the relationship more difficult and the eventual breakup significantly harder. If you have been married and decided you want to call it quits, contact a divorce attorney in your area today!