Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Who is more likely to instigate divorce? Men or women? How about same-sex couples?

I have heard that (in hetro relationships) the woman generally instigates divorce, but the man causes it (always the evil man!). I am wondering if we know about same sex couples? This would be illuminating.Who is more likely to instigate divorce? Men or women? How about same-sex couples?
It is more likely that a woman will be the one who files the petition or complaint; however, it is my impression that the decision to no longer try to keep the marriage going is made about half by men and half by women.





The spouse with lower income is more likely to file, since a major function of the divorce action is to divide and equalize assets and shift income from the higher earner to the lower earner as child support or alimony. Women still tend to have lower incomes than their husbands, and so account for more of the filings.





There have not been enough domestic partnerships or same-sex marriages to have a good idea what happens when those relationships end. However, I would predict, again, that the lower income partner will be the one more likely to file, since resort to the court is the only way he/she is going to get what the domestic partnership law/marriage provides for.Who is more likely to instigate divorce? Men or women? How about same-sex couples?
Thanks for differentiating between filing the complaint for divorce and the actual decision by one person to separate in the first place.

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Usually men in most cases but this can very. It is usually the man that does the harm in marriages but women can too. I definitley would not know about the same sex marriages.
I'd think women. They have the most to gain by being single. Does homosexual couples divorce? I never heard of any statistics on this. Being they are the same sex - it wouldnt matter who instigates the divorce...
I really believe that women are more likely to instigate divorce. Unfortunatley, men want to stay married they just may not want to do the other things it takes to keep a marriege going. Now that's not very fair I know, and each situation is different...this is just my own experience talking.

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