Couples in Texas who are getting married might want to make sure they are focused more on the marriage itself than the wedding. A study conducted by researchers at the University of Melbourne found that people who got married on certain special dates might be more likely to divorce.
The researchers looked at wedding dates for 1 million couples. February 14, which is Valentine’s Day, was the wedding date that led to the largest number of divorces. Roughly 11% of couples married on this day got divorced within five years and 21% legally ended their relationships within nine years. Other deliberately chosen dates appeared to predict trouble in the marriage as well.
Couples who chose dates with special numbers, such as September 9, 1999, also had a higher divorce rate. According to some, this tendency might be due to couples overfocusing on the wedding at the expense of preparing for the marriage itself.
Too little attention paid to the conflicts that could arise in a marriage might mean a couple marries without ensuring that they are compatible on such issues such as where they’ll live, their life goals, their attitudes toward money and whether they want children. When an inability to resolve these issues leads to divorce, spouses could find themselves grappling with the same problems as they attempt to reach a divorce agreement. For example, spouses with differing views on finances may want legal counsel to help them get through the property division process. In Texas, a community property state, both debts and assets could be considered shared property that is subject to equal division.
