Why are second marriages more likely to end in divorce?

When your first marriage ended, you may have experienced many mixed emotions. Maybe you wrestled with the feeling of never wanting to go through that kind of heartache again, or maybe you decided you simply didn’t want to be alone. Whether your second marriage was one you considered carefully or jumped into quickly, you are probably more than disappointed to see it coming to an end.

Statistically, second and third marriages end in divorce more often than first marriages. This is probably little comfort to you, especially if you had hoped to beat those odds. While each marriage is unique and the reasons for their successes and shortcomings are countless, marriage experts do see certain patterns when second marriages end.

What stretches a second marriage to the breaking point?

For generations, the number one reason why couples divorce has been finances. Whether a couple does not have enough cash to pay the bills, or one spouse makes more money than the other, arguments and disagreements over money consistently rank high as a cause of divorce. In your second marriage, however, money troubles may have been compounded for several reasons, including:

• If you and your spouse remarried later in life, you may have had significant assets.
• After a previous divorce, you or your spouse may have learned to be financially independent.
• A previous divorce may have made you or your spouse less likely to give up financial goals for a new marriage.
• You may have disagreed about sharing assets from previous divorce settlements or dividing household expenses.

Of course, if children are involved, any conflict may seem inflated. If you or your new spouse have children, you may have dealt with stress of many kinds from the very start of your new marriage. Perhaps there were conflicts with schedules, custody, support orders or simply dealing with your stepchild’s other parent that put a strain on your new relationship.

Getting through a second divorce

If you are facing the reality that your second marriage is coming to an end, perhaps it is because of any of these factors. Maybe you and your spouse acknowledge that you were not ready to remarry, and you wish to part amicably. If your first divorce was messy, you likely prefer to avoid the emotional turmoil of a second court battle.

In Utah, you can avoid a contentious legal dispute with an uncontested divorce. An uncontested divorce requires you and your spouse to agree on the major issues involved, such as property division, spousal support, and child custody and support. To reach the most effective resolution possible, you will benefit from the assistance of a family law attorney who has successful experience guiding couples through divorces, both in and out of courtrooms.