Divorce during coronavirus: Will splits soar after pandemic quarantines end?

Nashville, Tennessee, relationship coach Lee Wilson thought it was odd when one of his clients recently asked to meet with him at a golf course. Once he got there, he understood why: His client had already called a divorce lawyer. “He said, ‘I had to get away from her.’ “

Just another couple driven to divorce amid quarantine tensions? Yes and no. “I knew they were already having trouble,” says Wilson, but being locked down together by COVID-19 made it worse.

“If a couple is having trouble, most of their interactions will be neutral or negative. But now (tension) is constant and in their face and they’re not able to have their typical routines, like doing their own things,” says Lee, a couples coach for 20 years and founder of myexbackcoach.com, which offers online courses, videos and products such as “emergency breakup kits.”

Count this as another in a long list of negative impacts of the coronavirus pandemic: It has the potential to send America’s divorce rate — already embarrassing at nearly 50% — even higher once divorce courts are fully open again.

The now-familiar stresses of quarantine — money worries, boredom, lack of escape from each other, conflicts over the kids, conflicts over chores, lack of exercise — are forcing many couples to reconsider how they really feel about their partners, say lawyers and marriage counselors.

Even divorcing celebrities are feeling the COVID-19 effect: When Mary-Kate Olsen sought an emergency divorce from husband Olivier Sarkozy in New York City, she was turned away because it wasn’t deemed an “essential” matter in New York’s pandemic-closed courts.

How can you split up if you’re cooped up 24/7?

But in practical terms, couples may find it difficult to divorce when they’re locked down. For one thing, they can’t easily separate (sleeping in different beds in the same house doesn’t count as separation in some states).

They can’t move out and find new digs if they’re scared to leave their homes or are forbidden outright. In the current real estate market, it can be difficult to do business, house hunt or close sales. And what about custody of the kids? What about divvying up assets when one spouse has lost a job? …read full story at USA Today