Paul Horton: Tips for Surviving Divorce Settlement Talks

The divorce process legally ends a marriage and necessarily creates agreements about spousal support, division of assets and child custody if there are children. Many couples can make decisions themselves or with the aid of an attorney or mediator. However, if you are not lucky enough to be half of one of those couples, your case will continue toward trial and possibly settlement.

Most cases flowing through the criminal justice system settle short of trial. Civil divorce litigation is no different. What does it mean to “settle on the courthouse steps,” and what do you need to do when the date of your trial approaches and settlement proposals begin flying back and forth? Consider the following:

Before your trial, the judge is likely to hold a pretrial conference to determine whether there are issues that can be settled. Although you have arrived at the courthouse prepared for trial, events may take a sharp turn toward settlement during the pretrial conference. You may spend time waiting nearby or in a conference room.

While your attorney is tasked with representing your interests and relaying settlement offers to you from the other party, your job is to keep in mind your personal divorce and custody objectives. Even with good legal counsel, parties sometimes settle for inappropriate arrangements or conditions simply because they are stressed from proceedings that have stretched out for months or years.

Talk to your attorney about the possibility of settlement prior to the trial date. Ask how it looks, what you might need to decide, what concessions might be appropriate and which are not. Make sure you think about what you agree to — you and your children will have to live with your decision.

Some Careers Have Significantly Higher Divorce Rates than Others

A new analysis of U.S. census data performed by a career website called Zippia revealed workers in certain fields are much more likely to get divorced by age 30. The highest divorce rate was among first-line enlisted military supervisors, at approximately 30 percent. People in that field must coordinate the activities of enlisted service members.

Other fields that had particularly high divorce rates for people 30 and under included logisticians, mechanics and automotive service technicians, military-enlisted tactical operations and air weapons personnel. There were three military jobs in the top 10, and overall, military workers of any rank were most likely to be divorced before the age of 30. They had a 15 percent overall divorce rate.

Factors in these careers that make divorce more likely

The analysts who performed the study say the common factors involved in many of these jobs with high divorce rates are that they are demanding professions that involve a lot of time spent away from home, relatively low pay or persistent danger. Military professions often involve all three of these factors, which likely explains the presence of three such jobs in the top 10.

Numerous studies have been performed on the effects of military deployment on marriage. A study in the Journal of Population Economics published in 2016 found that divorce rates increased significantly with every month spent away on deployment. Mental health issues also frequently place more stress on couples, and veterans frequently experience depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Career stress affects all couples. Many of the fields that ranked in the top 10 in the study have extremely high demands in terms of average hours worked per week.

Free Consultation with Divorce Lawyer in Utah

If you have a question about divorce law or if you need to start or defend against a divorce case in Utah call Ascent Law at (801) 676-5506. We will fight for you.