It may be that statistics, rather than technology or climate change, will diminish society as we know it today. When surveys and polls are conducted, they are rife with assumptions despite claims of being objective and neutral. Whether the subject is marriage or separation and divorce, Ontario couples should be wary of results culled from information in surveys.

Embedded in survey questions are presuppositions about what the answers should be. For example, asking “why did your marriage fail?” colours the respondents’ view of what divorce is — in this case, a social and personal failure. The experience of family law lawyers can help avoid such deplorable negativity by asserting the positive outcomes that divorce may bring to each partner.

People choose to marry for a wide range of reasons, and they also choose to divorce for an equally wide range. In many cases, the reasons can be similar because the desire for a rewarding and wholesome life is the standard which may be met more fitfully by marital dissolution than by remaining in an unhappy marriage. For the most part, undergoing divorce does not dissuade most people from marrying again. It’s a case of not throwing the baby out with the bath water.

Judging by the time and effort put in, the commitment to wed can be just as stressful as separation and divorce. Divorce, as well as marriage, is ideally marked by strong communication, conflict negotiation and trust. Divorce is not so much a sign of marriage breakdown as it is a signpost to reach beyond what is to what can be. An Ontario family law firm with the resources to dispel the ill effects of incomplete or misleading surveys can help prevent a client from feeling like a statistic, and guide his or her way through the process.

Source: movingpastdivorce.com, “Divorce Report 2018“, Dorien Dijkwel, Accessed on March 26, 2018