Daily Real Estate News  |  November 19, 2008  |   Sour Economy Makes Divorce Tougher
The tough real estate market is making divorce even more trying for many couples because they
can’t sell property, some divorce attorneys say.

The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers polled its members this week and found that 37 percent are seeing a decrease in the number of divorce cases.

During the Great Depression, the divorce rate dropped sharply, says Stephanie Coontz, a professor of family studies at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash.

Bonnie Rabin, a New York matrimonial attorney who estimates that her business is off 75 percent this year, says falling home and stock prices are ruining progress on reaching agreements: “We have to renegotiate, in the midst of negotiations," she says.

Source: The Associated Press, Jocelyn Noveck (11/17/08)