Back in 17th century England, life was pretty much a crapshoot. Oddsmakers took bets on such things such as whether a person would live another year, whether a baby would make it to her christening, even whether a pregnancy would come to term. The burgeoning power of statistical underwriting methods led to the growth of insurance markets covering not only natural disasters such as floods, avalanches and droughts, but also man-made disasters such as divorce. Marriage insurance was proscribed in 1712, but great ideas like that never really die.
In 2010, a North Carolina-based company created a huge publicity blitz around the idea of “divorce insurance.” The incentive to bet against your marriage lasting was two-fold: divorce rates were approaching 50%, and legal fees for divorce averaged between $15,000 and $30,000, depending on whether the divorce was amicable or contentious. Even the cheapest divorce, according to Safeguard Guarantee’s pitch, would cost you at least $6,000 in legal expenses.
For less than $20 per month, SG’s “WedLock” product would provide a hedge against a marriage going south. You couldn’t sign up for divorce insurance a month or even a couple years before getting served with papers, but if you had a reasonable expectation that your marriage would last at least four years, you could build up a nest egg that would cover at least a significant portion of your eventual legal fees when the time came.
This offer didn’t last long, but the same company is now pushing a “Marriage Assurance” policy, which covers not only divorce expenses, but allows a person to build up a reward annuity that pays out once your marriage has stood the test of time.
As a matter of policy, Hirsch Legal LLC doesn’t evaluate or endorse insurance products, but we do recognize the need to prepare mentally and financially for a divorce once warning signs begin to appear. One of those warning signs would be coming across a monthly charge for divorce insurance on your joint credit card. Another might be worsening alcoholism or absenteeism from work or home. Whatever it is that eventually triggers a red alert, you should never let yourself be caught completely off guard.
The best form of divorce insurance is knowing where to go to get the best legal advice available. If you live in New Haven or Fairfield County (Westport, Bridgeport, Danbury, Stamford, Milford, Waterbury), that means a quick trip to our offices in Shelton, where our principal attorney, Carmina Hirsch, can expertly guide you through what often becomes a desperate struggle to maintain control of your home, your financial viability and your access to your children. If you think you are headed for a divorce or custody battle, give us a call today.