Divorce rates decrease along with economy | Bellevue divorce attorney

Divorce filings in Sacramento County, California have decreased from 2007 to 2008 and further in the beginning of 2009.  Sacramento divorce attorney Hal Bartholomew, president-elect of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers' Northern California chapter says that "Most divorce lawyers across the country are seeing a drop in new-client calls."

The financial crisis has caused troubled couples to think twice about going through with a divorce or find ways to reduce the costs such as trying to go without hiring a divorce attorney, using mediation instead of litigating through the courts.  In some situations, couples are getting divorced but staying in the same house.  Many people simply can't afford to divorce in the current economic climate. The process itself can be expensive and combined with decreased home values and loss of equity, huge stock market losses, and credit card debt have given rise to a need for great creativity in splitting the finances.

Often now there is no more equity in the house and there's less money in the 401(k) so one option is to defer the sale of the house to a later date and as as result, there are more cases where the divorcing parties remain at the same address.

Another effect of the bad economy is that people are trying to work things out and so the demand for counselors is way up.  It's definitely cheaper to go to counseling than to a divorce attorney.

The Bellevue divorce attorney at Andrew Kim Law Firm provides information to men and women about the divorce process so they can make an informed decision about whether to seek marriage counseling, wait it out, or proceed forward with filing for a divorce.  For a free initial consultation, call us at 1-800-636-3676.

Vermont becomes 4th state to legalize same sex marriage | Bellevue divorce attorney

Vermont has become the fourth state in the country to recognize same sex marriages.  The state legislature came up with enough votes to override Governor Jim Douglas' veto.  This comes right on the heals of ruling by the Iowa Supreme Court stating that marriage cannot exclude gays.  Connecticut and Massachusetts also allow gay marriage as a result of court decisions. 

At least three other states are in different stages of considering same sex marriages and these are New Hampshire, Maine and New Jersey.  Here in the state of Washington, the state Supreme Court upheld Washington state law which limits marriage to a man and a woman.  However, we have a domestic partnership law that extends many benefits of marriage to same sex couples.  A bill that is currently pending in the state Senate would expand those benefits to even further to everything short of being "married".

This information was provided by the Bellevue office of Andrew Kim Law Firm, PLLC where we represent husbands and wives in divorce and family law matters.  For a free initial consultation, please call (425) 289-1990 or 1-800-636-3676.