The Pandemic Has Slowed the Divorce Process. Here’s What to Expect.
When state and local governments announced shelter-in-place orders to slow the spread of the coronavirus, predictions that the lockdowns would force a reckoning in bad marriages and lead to a rise in the divorce rate abounded.
The forecast has not come to pass, but lawyers are seeing plenty of obstacles for couples who no longer want to be married.
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Another part of the negotiations can center on life insurance to guarantee that support payments continue if the paying spouse dies. But the coronavirus outbreak could make getting that insurance more difficult for older people, said Marilyn B. Chinitz, partner at Blank Rome in New York.
“Companies are going to take a second look at how they cover individuals,” she said. Premiums are much higher for people over 60, she added, and some insurance companies are not covering those 70 or older.
The alternative is tying up assets, like a house or an investment portfolio, to secure support payments. But many people balk at that arrangement, so Ms. Chinitz tells clients to get insurance now.
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“The Pandemic Has Slowed the Divorce Process. Here’s What to Expect,” by Paul Sullivan was published in The New York Times on May 8, 2020.