by Aja Dorsey Jackson
A new product, Wedlock Divorce Insurance, allows couples to purchase insurance coverage that will help with financial costs in the event of a divorce. Spouses can purchase up to 250,000 dollars worth of coverage to pay for expenses such as attorney fees, court costs, alimony and other bills. Couples are required to make payments on the policy for four years before they are eligible to receive funds and the payments vary based on the amount of coverage, but for about $160 a month you would receive $13,000 at the end of four years.
With the cost of divorce ranging from an average of $15,000 to $30,000 per couples, some divorce attorneys see this as a good thing because it would allow couples who are holding onto marriages because of the cost of divorce the option to split. My issue with divorce insurance is this: Shouldn’t getting a divorce be costly? Why should marriage be something that we would make it easier to get out of?
I believe that there are cases where there are reasonable grounds for divorce. Abuse is one reason, infidelity in many cases is another. However as a married person who knows several other married people that have been together for varying lengths of time, I know that in many relationships there are moments where the thought of leaving crosses the mind of one spouse or the other for neither of the above reasons. As much as we should be always thinking about our commitments, our families, and our love for one another, sometimes in the heat of anger and emotion none of those things are at the forefront of your mind. But as materialistic as it may sound, most people will think about their money, even when caught up in emotion. I don’t think there is anything wrong with having to evaluate the financial cost of a divorce before deciding to reconsider and work it out.
After all, how many times have you thought you really wanted something until you saw the price tag?
A few years ago, after the euphoria of being newlyweds started to wear off a little, my husband and I got into an argument that I can’t even remember now. What I do remember is that I had a newlywed “What have I done?” moment and decided to storm out, never to return again. After wasting gas driving around aimlessly and spending hours in Barnes and Noble, I realized I had no choice but to go home because I didn’t have money to do anything else. As my anger wore off, all of the implications of not going home, like having to pay for a hotel, find another place and pay a security deposit, or having to go to my mother’s and explain that I was there because of a really dumb argument, started to cross my mind. I didn’t have a summer home I could run off to or an insurance company that I could call and file a claim, so it just made more sense to grow up, go home and work it out.
Not only does divorce insurance allow couples to operate in a problematic just-in-case-this-doesn’t-work mode in marriage, to me it just provides a little too much cushion and gives even less incentive to get marriages on the right track before calling it quits. Couples should have to think long and hard about all of the costs associated with divorce, mental, emotional and financial, before entertaining it as an option. Instead of investing $160 a month into marriage failure, put that money into a really nice date night, a vacation savings or even a monthly counseling session to invest in your success.
Would you buy divorce insurance? Why or why not?
Aja Dorsey Jackson is a freelance writer and public relations consultant in Baltimore, Maryland. Find out more about her at www.ajadorseyjackson.com or follow her on twitter @ajajackson.
Cheryl says
No insurance for us. I believe that divorce should be as difficult as possible, so that it is not entered into frivolously. We are ridin’ this marriage until the wheels fall off…
Lamar Tyler says
With you on that Cheryl
HarrietH says
What you said. LOL
Tee says
This is LUDACRIS!!! Everybody wants an easy “OUT”. I believe to many people enter marriage with a “what if mind frame”.
Noierda says
I don’t think it’s an easy out. In reality depends on the situation divorce isn’t that expensive. For those who have experienced any of the two above “reasonable grounds” for divorce, it should be easier to get a divorce. Working with persons who have been in those situations it is so hard for them to get out of the marriage in the first place, throw in an expensive divorce when someone has been controlling EVERYTHING and you have nothing….what do you do then? work on not getting beat? work on him/her not sleeping around? because divorce is a “easy out”?
Dianne M Daniels says
I don’t know if I would have purchased ‘divorce insurance’ when I married my husband 20 years ago…that said, I can understand how a spouse might feel if they were the stay-at-home member of the marriage and the other spouse was working outside of the home. When a marriage fails, there are many reasons…staying with someone because you cannot afford to leave is a no-win situation for all involved.
I would want to see a counseling component added to the insurance, agreed upon by both members of the relationship – a period of time where they both agree to work on the relationship without outside interference (i.e. input from an outside love interest) and then revisit the idea of the divorce. Having the counseling fee built into the insurance might encourage some couples to get counseling rather than just give up.
There could also be certain conditions that make the counseling requirement void – again, agreed upon by both parties. It’s a tough question, but one that makes sense to discuss. After all, if you can’t agree that you want to try and work out any issues before ending the marriage, that might spell a bit of trouble that you should be crystal clear on before saying “I do.”
Tee says
Whomever Came up with this Idea is setting themselves up to get Scammed!
Sny says
If a person’s Husband or Wife is NOT following God’s Laws and bringing back HIV, AIDs and Other STD’s because they are out Cheating, (while you are at home trying to do hold the marriage together by yourself) it is Reasonable and Understandable to File for Divorce. Sometimes God is trying to Remove Us from the Very Thing that We are Holding on to. Two people staying together for the sake of the kids can end up doing more Harm than good if a spouse or a couple has Honestly tried to make it work, but it just doesn’t work anymore. Bottom Line, No one Can Predict what there spouse will do. If there is Domestic Violence involved in your marriage…it is Wrong NOT to get a Divorce from a Spouse who could possibly Kill You and Your Kids. Some people that We think are Godly when we marry them, turn out to be the Worst thing for us and it’s Not Reasonable to Stay Married to a person who has shown you that they Don’t Love or Respect You or Your Kids. There is NOTHING EASY about Divorcing a Spouse that You Love and Respect, But has No Respect Or Accountablility for You or Your Children. It takes Two to make a marriage work and One spouse Holding on to Hope and Doing all the work, Doesn’t Cut It. If your spouse has shown that He or She does Not want to be held Accountable for making the marriage work….Marriage Insurance that can be used at least to cover the cost of the divorce and provide financial assistance for things like paying off Debts that were incured with your spouse during the time your were married, could Save Your Credit Report so that you could move on with your life and provide safe housing for your children as a Single Parent after the divorce. It would be great for a Divorced Person and their Children to be able to get Financial Assitance from their spouses marriage insurance policy if they have not been able to get child support, alimony or even basic assistance from their ex-spouse. People (espeicially other women) need to be prepared for anything these days whether marriage insurance is real or not. We are living in a time where it is seen as Acceptable for some people to marry someone with absolutely No intention of actually trying to make it work. Whether we like it or not, all Marriages aren’t Healthy to be in no matter how much work we do. Everyone needs to have a “Plan B” and Everyone needs to be emotionally, Financially and Spiritually Independent. Just a thought. No Disrespect to anyone here.
t/na_sh
Candice W. says
I agree. Well said. God wants us to try to make it work Only if our spouses are willing to try to make it work also.
Lamar Tyler says
If you have a plan B from the jump many people will exercise plan B without fully trying plan A. The problem is too many people are leaving marriages without trying to make them work. How many couples go to counseling before filing for divorce? If that counselor doesn’t work do they try another that might be a better fit? How about marriage education classes? Give folks and easy out and they’ll take it and depending on your states laws getting a divorce isn’t always that hard.
Aja Dorsey Jackson says
Before I got married I was asking for advice from some married couples and a wife who had been married for a long time told me not to have a plan B because if you do at some point you’ll want to take it. I decided to take that advice to heart!
HealthyMarriage says
I find it absurd. This will only hurt marriages. I agree, this provides too much cushion. Humans today runaway from problems too swiftly. People simply aren’t strong enough. If a person entering a marriage even fathoms purchasing Divorce Insurance, then they asses need to ponder deeply upon whether or not they should get married at all.
Indeed, people divorce. Yes, this is true. Yet, the focus needs to be on people entering Marriages with realistic expectations and strength. Put money into pre-marital counseling and work on communication everrrrrrything, then get married. Fuck Divorce Insurance. Pardon my french.
gimmeabrekplez says
I definitely would have bought that policy! Gotta hedge your bets.
Anna says
I would rather spend that $160 a month towards retirement. LOL. Insurance is for a unfore seen event. Divorce Insurance sounds like a easy way out if both parties know it’s there. I think it would encourge some married couples to not weigh other opitions, i.e. a counselor or remembering why you got married, and getting back to that stage. Marriage is only as complicated as one makes it. To me “Marriage Insurance” is only going to make some company rich and many couples miserable, knowing that the other can easily divorce them. Many times there is one spouse who doesn’t want a divorce. If you want to marry there is premarital counseling, if you want a divorce there should be predivorce counseling. I did not read the comments and if I repeated anyone, great minds think alike.
truby says
First of all, we all know tha God hates divorce! When you buy car or house insurance you’re not planning on having a serious car accident, or for your house to burn down. However, you get it for a since of protection or because it is the law. The reason why this brings out so many view points is because a lot of people have already gone through a painful divorce and wish the would have had something like this already in place just in case. Actually I agree with both points of view but like the old saying goes : It’s better to have it and not need it, than to need it it not have it! This is just how I see it.
InYoFaceSpankie says
OMG… HAS IT REALLY COME TO THIS..? REALLY?? ? WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO “TRUE LOVE”..? HEL-LO..? LOOKS LIKE YOU’VE
LEFT NOTHIN’ TO LOOK FORWARD TO- – SO THANKS PREVIOUSLY,
AND CURRENTLY, MARRIED COUPLES.., NICE GOIN’!! !
“InYoFaceSpankie”