Talking About Divorce May Save Your Marriage
Wednesday, March 2, 2011 at 11:29AM As this article from CNN shows, discussing a possible divorce can save your marriage.
For the Richards, the conversation about how to break the news of their divorce to their kids led to an open and honest discussion about their marriage.
That, in turn, led to a discussion about how they communicated with each other, and why it was not working. That conversation saved their marriage.
In my experience as a Raleigh divorce attorney, I have heard client after client explain why their marriage fell apart. Frequently, they describe little problems that were never effectively addressed. Five, ten or twenty years later, those little problems had become major problems; just like the problems the Richards describe in the article.
I frequently work with couples that have lost the ability to effectively communicate with each other. My perception is that many of these couples could have avoided divorce if they had worked on more effective communication during the marriage. The Richards’ story is a perfect example of this idea. From countless conversations with marital and family therapists, I understand that their experiences support this idea as well.
I am not a marriage counselor or a mental health professional. But, I am married and I work with divorced and divorcing couples every day.
As shown by the Richards’ story, and my own work with divorcing families, you may avoid divorce by having a difficult but important conversation with your spouse that begins something like this: “If we ever get divorced, what would be the cause? What can we do to address that now?”
Better to explore these issues now, rather than years down the road in my office.
Randolph (Tré) Morgan III is an experienced family law attorney accepting cases in Raleigh, Cary, Apex, Garner, Fuquay-Varina, Clayton, Smithfield, Wake Forest, RTP, Durham, Chapel Hill, Holly Springs and surrounding areas. He focuses his practice in divorce, child custody, alimony, child support, equitable distribution, property division, paternity, guardianship and other family related matters.