Could financial secrets lead to a divorce?

The cause of any given divorce can vary considerably. Sometimes people just “grow apart,” while in other situations there is some affirmative act that leads one spouse to divorce the other. A recent news article took a look at one potential cause of divorce: financial secrets.

According to the report, a survey that included 500 people in America found that, for over 25 percent of those surveyed, finding out that their spouse was keeping financial secrets would be a “deal breaker” for their marriage. This may be understandable for many of our readers in New Jersey, as the bedrock of most marriages is honesty. But, on the flip side, that means that approximately three out of four of the adults surveyed may actually be fairly forgiving when it comes to this type of potential secrecy.

Of course, the nature of the financial secrecy may play a role as well. Maybe hiding a little cash for a shopping splurge isn’t as big of a deal to some people as, say, keeping debt a secret from your spouse. The facts of any given divorce will always be different.

Whatever the circumstances that lead couples in New Jersey to divorce, there will likely be some common issues to address, including: property division, alimony, child custody and child support. If secrets are part of the problem that leads to a divorce, there may be a significant mental hurdle for the parties to get over if they are going to try to negotiate an out-of-court settlement. In these types of cases, courtroom litigation may be the only option.