Divorce Up During Pandemic In America

They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, so too much togetherness must be too much of a good thing.

According to a recent article in The New York Daily News, online searches for “divorce” are up during the last six months as Americans spend much more time together at home in isolation and/or working from home side by side. People are speaking with divorce lawyers and entering divorce-related searches on the internet much more this year than last year. The coronavirus pandemic stressed a lot of relationships during lockdowns, and the added stress of job losses and salary cuts hasn’t helped. Experts have been predicting a divorce rate increase since the pandemic hit the U.S. in March.

A recent article in The New York Post reports that the number of people looking for divorces was 34 percent higher from March through June compared to 2019, according to new data collected Legal Templates, a company that provides legal documents.

Divorce lawyers are finding themselves busier than ever, now that they have re-opened their offices and are able to petition the courts for divorce. Sherri Donavan, a Manhattan-based divorce attorney, said her business is nonstop right now and clients are suddenly pushing through cases that had languished for years.

“It’s really been nonstop these past few weeks,” Vincent Stark, an attorney with Davis Friedman in Chicago, told the The Daily News. “A lot of lawyers I know, the last two to three weeks we’ve all become very, very busy. We’re busy with the Zoom hearings and depositions, then you’ve got new clients calling, and you’re trying to schedule meetings.”