Unsettled separation and divorce is on the increase

THE head of the Majorcan Registry of Separation and Divorce has on file up until May this year, 130 unresolved cases of separation and 201 of unsettled divorce; all are instances where the spouses have not been able to agree terms. These figures compare to 99 and 160 for the same period last year. The percentage increase of unresolved separation and divorce in the Balearics is 31.3 and 26.6 percent respectively which shows an increasingly sharp upward trend in the break-up of marriage.
Why do marriages come to grief with such relative ease in the Islands?
Antoni Monserrat is a senior magistrate and an expert on family-related matters who has lectured world-wide. He believes the explanation lies in nothing less than a lack of commitment on the part of the two people who enter into marriage. “Marriage is being taken too lightly and now there are less legal obstructions to having a marriage annulled,” he said.
Experts add that the age of the married couple at the time of their betrothal is also a factor. The younger the couple are, the more liklihood there is of it not lasting a lifetime, above all if there was a pregnancy before marriage. Economic difficulties can also place further strain on a partnership, especially if it is accompanied by job insecurity and rows in the household.
MONEY
Lawyer Francisca Arco, who has many years experience of cases of separation in Palma, believes that the issue of money is the most difficult to resolve when a case of separation finally comes to court. “It's a scenario of young married couples, having bought a house with a mortgage, find themselves then wanting to live separate lives. Peaceful agreement is nigh impossible. One of them has to leave the home (generally the husband) and he then finds it very difficult to abide by his financial obligations. Couples also fight for the custody of the children.” She added that those who seem more likely to fall prey are those who themselves have come from broken families.
In generations past, couples stayed together “for the sake of the children” but nowadays, experts claim, people are having fewer children and in some sectors of the married community, it has ceased to be a key reason for people remaining together.