When you married your spouse, you knew that they had gotten married and divorced before. It was no secret when you met. They were very upfront about it and told you about their past.
In fact, they even said that it would make their marriage to you stronger because they had learned from the mistakes they made the first time around. Think of it like practicing for that second marriage, they said. Now they were good at it, and practice makes perfect. You felt confident that it made your marriage even more secure.
While every case is different, the reality is that marrying someone who has already gone through a divorce actually makes your own divorce more likely than it would be otherwise.
Statistical studies
Though divorce rates and statistics change from year to year, studies make one thing clear: If it is a second or third marriage, the odds of divorce are higher than they would be for a first marriage.
It's a numbers game. The divorce rates are higher in second marriages, and that's one of the things that makes the overall divorce rate appear so high in the United States. Many people go through multiple divorces, pushing the overall rate up.
For instance, imagine that you have three couples. Two of them stay together. The other couple gets divorced, remarried, and divorced again. That puts the divorce rate at 50 percent, even though two out of the three couples never split up.
A red flag
In fact, when you ask professionals what red flags they watch out for, though they mention things like getting married too young and having financial problems, they also simply point to the couple's past. If they've gotten divorced already, it's one of the biggest red flags that they'll do it again.
"We see repeat customers," one expert noted. "Those who frequently marry are often quick to commit and quick to leave. For some, being married, just being married, makes them feel like they fit in."
Was your spouse eager to get married because of outside pressure? Some people feel like they're "supposed" to get married, and they want that public perception. If they're doing it just to fit in or because their friends and parents expect it of them, that reasoning may not carry the marriage on for years or decades of wedded bliss.
Understanding your rights
Do you think that your marriage may end in divorce? The sooner you act and the more you learn about your rights and legal options, the better prepared you'll be. Take the time to look into what steps you must take moving forward.
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