Some couples weather massive life events together, leaning on each other and helping one another heal. Other couples find themselves turning outward, shutting their spouse out, and growing apart. The most difficult reality is that no one knows how they will cope with trauma until it occurs. By the time couples realize the damage that has been done to a marriage, Michigan divorce is often inevitable.
1. Death of a Parent
The death of a parent makes even the most stable and logical adults rethink every aspect of their life, including their marriage. Grief alone can lead to friction in a relationship – sometimes feelings of anger, sadness, and emptiness transfer to a spouse – and pit partners against each other as they attempt to cope.
In weaker unions where perhaps both people have avoided rocking the boat so as not to upset extended family with a separation, this death may now serve as permission to determine that the marriage is over.
2. Health Crisis
There is no predicting the diagnosis of cancer, an autoimmune disease, mental health complications, addiction, or other serious afflictions. Even the strongest couples who take their “in sickness and in health” vows very seriously find themselves tested if their partner’s needs are constant and unyielding and their once lighthearted life is permanently altered.
Maybe you used to hike together, eat out every weekend, travel the globe, or at the very least share the raising of the kids. Now, limitations caused by health woes can interfere with the elements that once tied you together and put extra demands on the healthier spouse.
3. Having a Baby
No one ever wants to admit it, but the reality is that some couples have children and morph from happy to completely miserable. This could be because one person wanted a child and the other didn’t, but even in marriages where both people were eager to create new life, the stressful reality of caring for a newborn and the all-encompassing physical, mental, and emotional toll of raising children can lead to communication and happiness breakdown.
Marital satisfaction takes a backseat to kids’ needs and couples easily lose their connection to each other. The new reality becomes child custody and child support if you decide to divorce.
4. Retirement
Many couples have different timelines or visions for the future when they reach retirement. One person wants to travel, the other wants to go back to school and start a second career. One wants a bigger house, the other wants to downsize. These seemingly insignificant matters become larger than life when they are your whole life and there are no jobs to keep you distracted and dreaming.
Upon retiring, after all, the focus is no longer on work but on the act of living every day, together, forever. After kids have left the nest or if the other spouse is still firmly working, the couples’ preferences can clash and ultimately lead to a split.
Anytime marriage is no longer the priority, cracks can form, and Michigan divorce may be difficult to avoid. If you are struggling to make a choice about your future, contact Femminineo Attorneys in Mt. Clemens, MI, to schedule a consultation. Find out what’s next for you and what’s right for your future.