Spartanburg divorce attorney, Ben Stevens, is interviewed by WYFF (Greenville, SC NBC Affiliate) about the impact of the economy on divorces in South Carolina. *** Transcript *** You may have heard that about half of all marriages end in divorce. You probably also heard that money is the main reason that couples call it quits. So, with the economy struggling right now, you would think a lot of relationships are on the rocks. Bu now Mark Alan joins us with why some people are just too poor for divorce and, Mark, so much for marital bliss, right? Well, Beth you would think that's the case with people losing their jobs and the values of their 401(k)s and homes, we found this down economy seems to be driving down divorce rates. Ah, your wedding day, the happiest day of your life, when you say your I dos, become one and agree to stick it out for better or worse. Sadly that's not the case for many couples. About 50 percent of all American marriages end in divorce. The number is even higher for second and third marriages. But lately, as Wall Street take a dive, so does the number of couples taking a trip to Splitsville. The economic downturn has certainly affected things. Spartanburg Attorney Ben Stevens spends most of his time in family court dealing with child custody, child support and, yes, divorce. He's seeing a drop off right now in divorce cases. I think statewide and, and particularly here in upstate, it's been the same thing. Everybody's really experienced a little bit of down turn. Just look at these numbers from the South Carolina Judicial Department. Last March, there were 1,520 divorces cases filed statewide. That number dropped to 1,449 in April and dropped again to 1,326 in May. In fact, except for the month of October last year, the number of divorce filings dropped every single month for 2008. You know, until the economy rebounds, I think it'll continue, eh, in that same trend. Wyatt Henderson of Greer is one of the only certified divorce financial analysts in the upstate. He makes sure settlements are fair for both sides and while he has plenty of divorce cases on his desk right now, he says many couples are choosing not to fight to the bitter end. We're seeing more and more people maybe attempt to or give it more of an attempt to settle on the front end and not have to, you know, dedicate some much of their resources to going through with a divorce. That's because contested divorces can rack up tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees. Uncontested ones, those settled early on cost far less. Henderson also says some people are delaying divorce altogether. One will occupy, um, one part of the house. The other spouse, spouse will occupy the other part of the house and they're basically just sitting tight until the economy rebounds. See, that's the catch. Divorces are down but that doesn't mean all couple are on the road to happily ever after. Some are letting the markets dictate when they'll move on. People are always gonna get divorced so it, it, it's always, it's got, we're, divorce lawyers are sort of a necessary evil in society, I guess. So, um, it's always gonna be there it's just the, the volume is gonna be the question. And while divorces were down big time last year, the number of cases actually spiked in January and February of this year, divorce attorneys say that's typical as filings always go up after the holidays. But they expect if the economy stays down, so will the number of divorces. Back to Nigel. Mark, thank you very much. And thank you for joining us at 5:00. News Four at six with Michael and Carol starts right now. *** About *** This video features family law attorney J. Benjamin (Ben) Stevens, 1188 Asheville Highway, Spartanburg, SC 29303, (864) 598-9172. To learn more about our law firm or our services, you can visit our website www.SCFamilyLaw.com or email our office at Info@SCFamilyLaw.com

• published: 29 Jan 2014
• views: 434