The individual circumstances driving Illinois couples to end their marriages vary, but, when researchers look at large groups, interesting risk factors emerge. Issues as diverse as divorced parents, educational achievement, gender of first child and physical appearance appear to influence the likelihood of people getting divorced.
Higher divorce rates among people whose parents got divorced have been attributed to being raised by parents who split. Studies that compared the divorce rates for adopted children, however, showed that nature played a greater role than nurture. Biological parentage influenced divorce rates. Genetic traits like impulsiveness or neuroticism might be straining relationships.
Unions with a female firstborn correlated more strongly with divorce. Researchers suspect that the ability of female fetuses to survive to term under stressful circumstances explains the trend. Strained marriages might tend to produce female births. Researchers also link higher educational levels, such as both partners earning a bachelor’s degree, with lower rates of divorce. The lower the educational level, the greater the chance of a dissolution. The role of physical attractiveness in divorce has been confirmed by four studies. People considered attractive suffer marital problems at a greater rate.
Regardless of the reasons motivating a person to file for divorce, many legal issues need to be settled before completing the split. A family law attorney could inform a person about the process that includes court filings and division of property. An attorney could also describe parental rights and aid a person trying to negotiate access to children. Legal advice could help a client understand the consequences of specific financial or custody decisions.
