The Covid-19 Divorce is Real
The Covid-19 Divorce is real. While the pandemic has changed the legal priorities of individuals, corporations, and governments alike, family law has become a volatile area with many forces moving families toward and away from each other. All of us are trying to stay healthy, keep our families safe and stable, and move forward as we can.
According to Legal Services Corporation, a nonprofit that subsidizes legal aid services nationwide, the American Bar Association, and other organizations, the pandemic has forced a rise in the need for legal services, particularly among those of the lowest income. Requests for help with eviction, foreclosures, unemployment assistance and appeals, consumer debt, and income maintenance have skyrocketed to stratospheric levels.
Unfortunately, there has also been an increase in domestic violence, child abuse, and further marginalization of minority groups such as LGBTQ, according to the American Psychological Association. Crammed in next to each other, cheek by jowl, day after day, has a psychological downside indeed. This has led to court filings for divorce, custody battles, Protection from Abuse orders, and other methods of legal intervention in response to the trend.
All of this is happening as courts at all levels struggle to operate in a pandemic-restricted environment that has made the virtual court date the norm.
In family law practice, family stress has become very evident. New York Times writer Kim Brooks in 2020 dubbed the phenomena the “Covid Divorce” in a column last year. I agree with her point that fractures in the family structure have widened during the worry and confinement of Covid-19. I also agree that the pandemic has brought more focus and clarity to relationships already struggling. Families have fewer distractions, and so must deal more directly with the problems that can linger unattended below the fabric of daily routine.
On the bright side, the pandemic has also brought families closer together. Stepparent and regular adoptions continue and name changes that help people carve new identities proceed.
My office remains open and I continue to offer no-cost initial legal consults for issues from divorce to child support, adoption to surrogacy contracts. Call today at 215-345-5259 to schedule your free consult.
– Elissa C. Goldberg, Esquire