A recent study showed that people who opt for an expensive wedding are more likely to get divorced than people who don’t. Jim Mueller recently commented on the study:
What this shows is that, one, you’re starting your marriage out in debt, and two, it shows that one of the spouse’s priorities is money, and to show what you can do, and that’s what’s more important to them than what is between the two of them.
What about the big expenditure before the wedding: the engagement ring and the ‘two months salary’?
To me these ideas are put out by business and marketers about what is “standard.” What I tell my clients is, ‘Do what works for you! If it works for you that’s wonderful.’ Some people have these big grandiose weddings and live in bliss and never even contemplate divorce; it’s different for every couple.
As divorce attorneys, we always hear about the 50/50 split. Is that still true?
Yes, that’s mostly true, but what we’re seeing is that baby boomers who are getting divorced are making sure their children are signing prenuptial agreements. So that they don’t go through the same rough patches, we’re seeing the trend that people are doing more to protect themselves before marriage.