On behalf of The Marks Law Firm, L.L.C. posted in Divorce on Thursday, November 11, 2010
Divorce, like anything else, carries with it some misconceptions in society created by popular media. Unlike the movies, one spouse does not take the other spouse “to the cleaners” because their infidelity led to the separation. Missouri is a “no-fault” divorce state, and that literally means that in the eyes of the court, no one is requred to prove that the other was “at fault” for causing the divorce.
A judge will not grant the wife the house, the car, the family business and a large sum of money during property division solely because the husband had an extramarital relationship with another woman, although it may be considered as a factor. A marriage is a contract with the state, and a divorce is a request to the court to dissolve that contract. There is no winner or loser to which damages will be awarded.
Not only is determination of a winner and a loser a common misconception about divorce, but so is the fact that the man is always the cheater or always the one who walks away from the marriage. Statistics show that as couples reach their 40’s and 50’s, two thirds of divorces are initiated by women and women are as likely to cheat as men are.
Cheating is not the only reason that people get divorced. Some people believe that “growing apart” is just a myth, but that is in fact a major cause of divorce. Many couples get married with similar dreams and aspirations but find that as they grow older and accomplish some of those goals or change their views of the world, they find that the reasons they got married no longer exist. A lot of divorces end by mutual agreement and surprisingly, a lot of people may deeply care for their ex-spouse even though they no longer want a marriage.
Source: The Huffington Post “The Ten Biggest Misconceptions About Divorce” Vicki Lovine 11/11/10