While the credit crunch is having a negative impact on the divorce rates within the UK, as no one can afford to get divorced any more, it’s having the exact opposite effect on divorce rates in the US, with the super wealthy at least.

In the past year, divorces among the super wealthy have increased, with one divorce lawyer (Raoul Felder) finding his client list rising from 250 to 300 in the past 12 months. This represents the biggest increase in high profile divorces in New York since 1980, when the law was changed to add ‘adultery’ as grounds for divorce.

It seems that people are divorcing because the once mammoth fortunes of the super rich (hedge fund managers for example) are starting to dwindle, causes their spouses to cut and run before they lose too much money. One divorce lawyer stated that he had a client who feared his wife would divorce him when his fortune fell from $20 million to a paltry $8 million.

Psychotherapist Kenneth Mueller stated:

The credit crunch is starting to become a really big issue — especially for the moneyed classes. Once you can’t act out with money you start fighting.

It’s like drinking, or gambling, or sexing your way out of feelings, but with a fabulous family vacation or great clothes or wonderful meals — money can become an addiction that masks the reality. When that goes, reality has to be faced and accusations start flying.

But then, if couples are divorcing because they no longer have the multi millions, and have to make do with just millions, they can’t have had much of a marriage to begin with. If you’re motivated by money, you’ll leave when the money dries up. These men are better off without the women who just want their cash, it’s just a shame it cost them so much to realise it.

Clive Bellmore