Number of divorces in county is rising

Owens Chesterfield attorneys are reporting an increase in divorce cases since the economy crashed in 2008, citing the recession as a significant factor.

“We’ve seen about a 10 or 15 percent increase in divorces since the downturn,” said Mary Burkey Owens, a partner with Midlothian-based Owen & Owens. “We have five attorneys, and we’re extremely busy. Our practice has certainly gotten more cases, more clients, not less.”

John McGeorge of McGeorge Law said he has seen a 20 to 25 percent increase in divorce cases between 2008 and today.

“As the economy is unstable, it destabilizes families, and that’s a sad reality,” he said. “If marriages have underlying problems, bad economic times will bring these to the surface in an explosive way that often leads to divorce.”

Both Owens and McGeorge place blame on a troubled economy, combined with a general societal lack of commitment. “With the turn the economy’s taking, people seem to be more dissatisfied and impatient, and that’s carried over to their personal lives,” theorized Owens. “They’re less willing to put time into a marriage. A lot of people are grasping for whatever happiness they can find wherever they can find it,” often leading to spousal infidelity that can lead to divorce.

Edwards “People used to come in for a consultation and then come back a year later for a divorce,” added Owens. “Now people are ready to proceed. Few people want to go to counselors or marriage therapists and figure out what’s wrong and work it out.”

Attorney George Edwards said he actually saw a decline in divorce rates after the fall of 2008, though his caseload is currently back to pre-recession levels.

McGeorge “Divorce psychologists tell me that divorce is the most traumatic experience anyone will go through,” said Edwards, who’s been practicing law since 1978. “It’s the fear of the unknown. When you go through a divorce, everything comes into question: Am I doing the right thing? When the economy was yanked out from under us, everyone sat still in a state of paralysis. Now that the economy’s balanced out, the rate is picking up to what it was two years ago.”

Edwards, who comes from a military background, says he has seen a 35 to 40 percent increase in military-related divorces over the past 12 to 14 months, which he partly attributes to the growth of Fort Lee and the inclination of military personnel to seek out lawyers with military backgrounds.

“Young families can’t take the stress of multiple deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan,” he explained. “That’s where you start to see affairs, substance abuse, beatings. These people are a wreck when they come back.”

Outside of the military cases, Edwards said he sees few divorces based on adultery and physical cruelty, while both Owens and McGeorge reported the opposite.

“Abuse comes along with the economic downturn,” said Mc- George. “People are frustrated with their lack of employment and lack of income to take care of their families, and they express it in forms of physical abuse. I’ve seen quite a bit of physical abuse recently.”

Owens said the current situation differs from past troubled times.

“It’s different this time,” she said. “In times past when times got rough, I think the family budget was so important that people tried to stay together to keep afloat. I think this time people are just abandoning ship. They’re trying to get away from everything causing them stress and problems, both financial issues and relationships issues, which are their marriages.”