The State of Divorce in America Today

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In law school, I was the only one interested in being a divorce lawyer. The divorce rate in America is around 56%, with higher rates in second and subsequent marriages. Despite this, it is still more likely than not that you will get divorced when you get married. Some argue that getting married is a reckless or negligent activity due to the high probability and severity of harm. Marriage is considered an inherently negligent activity.

If you want insight on how to make love last, you might ask friends, family, a therapist, or a pastor for advice. You probably wouldn't think to turn to a divorce lawyer. But my guest, James Sexton, who does that very job in New York City, says there may be few people who have a better perspective on how to hold a marriage together, than the guy who's got a front row seat to how they fall apart.

James is the author of If You're in My Office, It's Already Too Late: A Divorce Lawyer's Guide to Staying Together, and today on the show he shares what he's learned from overseeing over a thousand divorces that you can use to reverse engineer a relationship that lasts. We discuss the five types of infidelity James sees in his practice and the approach to marriage that will prevent affairs. We then get into common sources of conflict in a marriage, including sex, finances, and kids, and how to address these issues so you never end up in James', or any other divorce lawyer's, office.