NEW YORK (PRWEB)
December 18, 2019

How will divorce change across America in the coming year? Jacqueline Newman (https://nycdivorcelawyer.com) , a managing partner at Berkman Bottger Newman & Schein LLP and author of the new book “The New Rules Of Divorce: 12 Secrets to Protecting Your Wealth, Health, and Happiness,” has revealed her top five predictions for divorce in 2020. They include:

Divorce rates will be effected by the presidential race.

There have already been studies released that the divisive political climate has caused great stress and anxiety for many people in America. Therefore it is logical to extrapolate that this emotional stress has trickled into people’s personal lives, in particular their marriages. The heat is going to rise come November and it will definitely impact marriages and may push those already on the edge – over the cliff.

If the real estate market continues to be soft (especially in the high end market), it may lower divorce rates.

It is common sense that it costs more to have two houses than one. This rings especially true when your largest asset (your home) has dropped in value and you cannot sell it for a price that allows you to afford two homes. There will be people who will table any divorce talks until they regain the value in their homes and feel that they can sell. A soft real estate market can make a spouse seem less annoying to live with.

The number of couples entering into Prenuptial agreements will continue to rise.

While prenupts use to only be only reserved for the rich, that no longer seems to be the case. Now, you still have wealthy people entering into these agreements, you also have people who plan to be rich one day, entering into the agreements. Much of the stigma of having a prenupt seems to have dissipated while also strengthens their popularity. I see more people entering into them in 2020 and beyond.

The movement towards 50/50 custody will continue to grow

Gone are the days of the “every other weekend and Wednesday dinner” Dads. More and more I see that parents are agreeing to 50/50 parenting access time with their children. With more households have two working parents, the parenting responsibilities are being divided more than they ever have before. The involvement of both parents is strongly supported by the courts and it is slowly becoming the burden of the parent who does not believe 50/50 is appropriate to prove why.

Litigation over spousal support awards will increase

When the tax laws changed and spousal support was no longer fully tax deductible to the payor and income to the payee, it had a significant impact on divorce negotiations. Although the tax laws changed, the formula that calculates spousal support did not which results in very skewed spousal support calculations. This has led to fights amongst attorneys as to whether the formula should apply at all. Combine the faulty formula with the overall movement against larger spousal support awards for parents who have stepped out of the workforce to raise children is a recipe for a lot of litigation.

About Jacqueline Newman

Jacqueline Newman is the managing partner at the matrimonial law firm Berkman Bottger Newman & Schein LLP in Manhattan. Jacqueline’s practice consists of litigation, collaborative law and mediation. She specializes in complex high net worth matrimonial cases and also in negotiating prenuptial agreements. The author of The New Rules of Divorce, Newman has appeared as an expert commentator on various television and radio shows and has been quoted as an expert in numerous publications, including Fox’s Business, NBC News, ABC News, CBS News, The New York Times, Woman’s Day, Glamour, the New York Post, Reuters.com, Crain’s New York Business, U.S. News and World Report, Business Insider, Time.com, USA Today, Yahoo Parenting, Woman’s Day, CNBC.com and The Huffington Post.

THE NEW RULES OF DIVORCE: 12 Secrets to Protecting Your Wealth, Health, and Happiness (Atria Books; Hardcover; January 7, 2020; $26.00; 978-1-9821-2793-0

https://www.amazon.com/New-Rules-Divorce-Protecting-Happiness/dp/1982127937/

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