Will Divorce Rates Increase After COVID-19 Quarantine?

With life having been put on pause for weeks due to the coronavirus pandemic, many divorce lawyers are anticipating a surge of divorce filings and cases as states move to re-open and relax COVID-19 restrictions. Is the increase in divorce cases due to the fact that people couldn’t file when they wanted to, or is it because couples who found themselves quarantined together can’t stand to be near one another? According to ABC News, increases in filings might be due to the fact that many courthouses are opening for the first time in weeks. People who had planned to file for divorce before the pandemic began in January and February may finally be able to move forward with those plans only now. And then, there are those who found themselves spending too much time with their significant other who may have had plenty of time to contemplate their life goals and life choices while in quarantine. Some people may even have had to face their own mortality and the fact that they may only have a limited amount of time to live their best life. 

Yet, the coronavirus pandemic may also have caused some marriages to take a turn for the worst. ABC News reports that cases of domestic violence are increasing. With people cooped up in the same house with no outlet and nowhere to go and the kids home from school, for many couples without proper coping skills this can become a kind of “pressure cooker” situation.

Interestingly, there have also been cases where couples had considered filing for divorce in January and February before the coronavirus began, and now that they have had some time to spend together in quarantine, they realize that they don’t want to divorce, after all. 

But for many couples who had been planning to file for divorce, only to find themselves confined to the same house with their estranged partner, the past few weeks have been very difficult. Many individuals are looking forward to the prospect of finally getting a chance to move forward. There have also been reports where one partner was being unfaithful and the other partner had concerns about the unfaithful partner bringing the illness into the home. 

When you take factors like marital discord and add to this equation a global pandemic, financial uncertainty, and the inability to connect as freely with your social circle, it becomes clear that now is a very tough time to be going through a divorce. Fortunately, you don’t need to go through your divorce alone.