Is it cheaper to keep'em then leave'em? A new survey finds more than a third of Louisiana couples who want to split up say they can't -- because of soaring inflation.
Just the process of divorce is expensive, with attorney and other legal fees in the tens of thousands of dollars. The web site DivorceAnswers.com's survey finds that
among Louisiana couples that want to call it quits, 38 percent of them say they can't, because they depend on their other half, financially.
"In today's society you have two income paying one sets of bills," said Doug Sunseri, attorney and host of host of All Things Legal on WWL. "Often when you get divorced you've got one income paying two sets of bills."
Sunseri says it's not unheard of to have a client come in seeking divorce, then reconsider once they understand the financial ramifications.
"They have no idea as to the different lifestyle that they will have to live, and the different economics in connection with that lifestyle, upon divorce. It is devastating," he said. "Often when we tell them the financial realities of divorce, they often rethink it."
He says many times, clients decide it would be easier to work out their differences with their estranged spouses, unless they're in dire circumstances: "What they have to weigh is the diminished financial lifestyle that they have to live, does it outweigh the benefit of the divorce?"
