Murrieta Legal Blog

Researchers who asked more than 2,300 people why they got a divorce found that many couples have a lack of emotional satisfaction in their marriages. Rather than behavioral reasons, such as violence and addiction, exes pointed to psychological reasons, such as a lack of love or trust, that led the divorce. The study authors, who published their findings in the "Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy," reflected that this represented a shift in how marriage is perceived. Increasingly, people seek to be emotionally fulfilled in marriage. Many spouses in California may be willing to leave a relationship that does not provide that fulfillment.

Survey respondents were recently separated and had an average age of 45. Overall, the lack of love in a marriage was the No. 1 reason for splitting up. In second place was poor communication. The third most common reason was that trust had been breached and could not be rebuilt, or one or both individuals lost respect for the other. In fourth place, exes claimed they had spread apart over the years.

The divorce process is every bit as stressful as it sounds. In fact, you may come to find that it's more challenging than you believed it would be.

Even if you're on speaking terms with your soon-to-be ex-spouse, you could run into a variety of challenges along the way.

The right documentation can help a California parent win custody of his or her children. For instance, phone call logs can help a noncustodial parent show that there was an effort made to stay in touch with a son or daughter. Alternatively, a noncustodial parent could use phone or similar records to allege that the custodial parent made it difficult or impossible to contact the child. Phone records should indicate how often calls were made and how long they lasted.

Parents should also record each visit that they make with their children. A visitation log should keep track of how often visits took place, where they took place and how much time a parent spent with a son or daughter. Noncustodial parents can use this log to establish that they are involved in their child's life.

As second marriages increase throughout the country, many California residents have discovered that tension can build due to finances, particularly when the new spouses have children from prior marriages. Money can be a source of stress for most relationships; however, there are ways to prevent the tension building so much that it hurts the relationship.

One way to prevent these types of issues from popping up later in the marriage is by agreeing to a prenup. While it can be a delicate subject and might seem like the person is thinking about divorcing even before the marriage, a prenup can be used to clearly outline and define which interests will be kept separate, to be inherited by each spouse's children, and which can be shared. Prenups can also so be used to define if a person wants their money to continue supporting their spouse in case of their death, but then be available to their own children once their spouse dies.