Rochester NY Family Law Blog

Many Rochester residents are familiar with the celebrity Kim Kardashian and her large collection of personal issues that seem to fuel gossip for many tabloids and magazines. Whether it's her pregnancy with Kanye West or her lavish life on the reality show "Keeping up with the Kardashians," the young celebrity seems to be famous for a myriad of personal issues. The most recent detail in the celebrity's life is the finalization of her divorce from NBA star Chris Humphries.

The high net worth couple was infamous for having a longer divorce than a marriage. The couple was married for only 72 days. After filing for divorce in 2011, the dissolution of marriage was finally complete last week. Humphries wanted an annulment from Kardashian citing that she only wanted to marry him as a publicity stunt which the 32-year-old soon-to-be mother denies. After years of bitter divorce proceedings, the reality star is finally single again.

In today's society, it is not rare for someone to end one marriage and get remarried. With the divorce rate at 50 percent, many New Yorkers have gone through the process. For some couples that are relatively amicable and agreeable towards each other, there is a wonderful process called mediation. But for a majority of people, litigation is the only way to settle a divorce.

Between child custody, alimony and property division, divorce can take a long time to settle. The traditional litigated divorce can often take months or sometimes years to complete, but it addresses just about everything. Litigation works to the uniqueness of each divorce. If a couple is willing to work things out, litigation will not take as long. However, anytime there is a bitter argument over an issue like property division for example, the process can drag on resulting in more expenses.

Marriage does not have a lifetime guarantee. As much as people hate to admit, the divorce rate in America is 50 percent. That means half of all marriages will end in divorce. Whether the relationship is a few years long or several decades, the daunting statistic still applies. Many New York residents have gone through this painful process, and some might ask whether it gets better in the end.

The answer for most people is “yes”. Happiness does live on after divorce but takes some effort and a positive attitude to get there. For many couples, divorce can drag on for years, while others can get the process done within a week or less. While it may be painful to deal with, especially with issues like child custody and the distribution of property, there are many positives to look forward to.

One of the most controversial debates going on across the nation is the legalization of gay marriage. With eleven states including New York legalizing same-sex marriage, the rest of the nation is slow to catch up. While most of the focus falls on legalizing marriage, same-sex divorce is often left dormant by the law. Many same-sex partners who are going through a divorce have found the process to often be difficult and expensive.

In states like New York where same-sex marriage is legal and recognized by the state, divorce is similar to opposite sex divorce. But for same-sex couples who were married in a state the recognized their marriage, but later divorce in a state that does not, the divorce process can be very complicated. In many cases, same-sex couples will have to move back to the state in which they were married in order to receive a divorce. Complications can continue if the same-sex couple has any children either adopted or born. Child custody laws for gay couples can often be ambiguous in the legal system outside of states that recognize gay marriage.