As 2020 gets underway in Washington and across the country, many married couples have already decided they no longer wish to maintain their spousal relationships. There are any number of reasons why such couples decide to divorce. For some, there appears to be a rising trend having to do with career success, especially if the successful spouse happens to be a woman.
There are several studies that have addressed the issue, and researchers say they have found that, when a female spouse has a highly successful career, her marriage is nearly twice as likely to end in divorce. It is suspected that many women who are single and dating often hide their career success because they worry that their dates will feel intimidated by it. The studies seem to confirm such suspicions because researchers say many male spouses simply do not seem to be able to handle their wives’ success.
It is definitely true that it is not always a woman’s success that sparks marital problems that lead to divorce. The reverse is often true as well, with a wife feeling lonely or isolated due to a spouse’s extensive travel for a career, for instance. As it stands, it is logical to assume that any type of career success can drive a wedge between a married couple, which causes a distance or contention from which they are unable to rebound in their relationship.
Some Washington couples are able to avoid divorce by seeking counseling together or compromising, such as a spouse agreeing to spend less time at work or the other spouse agreeing to try to offer more support in his or her partner’s career. However, when a couple determines that filing for divorce is the most viable option, they must agree to a settlement. If there are high assets involved because of career success, it can make property division or alimony issues quite challenging to resolve. In such cases, it is helpful to rely on the support of an experienced family law attorney in court.