Tennessee couples may be interested in the results of a survey recently conducted by a market research firm. The survey of 1,000 men and women revealed that credit card purchases made by a spouse and hidden from the other were a factor in the separation or divorce of 10 percent of those responding. This is only one of several studies that have noticed a link between financial disagreements and divorce.
A Kansas State University study conducted earlier this year found that arguing about finances was the leading predictor of divorce. A 2011 survey by the National Endowment for Financial Education similarly found that 16 percent of marriages end because of financial infidelity.
The undisclosed purchases were not always for impulse or frivolous items. Half of the people who responded to the market research survey reported that the credit card charges were made for essential expenses such as rent, utilities and food. Over 70 percent of the respondents who admitted hiding purchases from their spouses said that they did so either because they were afraid their partner would be angry or that they would not have approved the charges. The survey also revealed that while women were 60 percent more likely to hide an expenditure from their husbands, the men's hidden purchases were larger.
A person who is contemplating a divorce due to financial disagreements with a spouse may wish to speak with an attorney who has experience in family law. The attorney may be able to conduct a review of the couple's financial situation, and may be able to help negotiate and prepare agreements relating to property division and spousal support that take such circumstances into account.
Source: Huffington Post, "Secret Credit Card Spending And Divorce Linked In New Survey", October 14, 2013