Tennessee Among States with Highest Divorce Rates

The State of Tennessee continues to have one of the highest divorce rates in the country

In 2016, Tennessee ranked sixth highest in divorce rate at 12.5% when compared to all other states in the U.S according to research conducted by the Center for Disease Control, National Survey of Family Growth. Tennessee tied for sixth with Arkansas, Kentucky, and Washington. These is far from the first time Tennessee has appeared in the top ranks of states with high rates of divorce. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2015, 31.6% of men in Tennessee had been married two or more times and 31.4% of women had been married two or more times. These number put Tennessee well beyond the national average of 24.8% men reporting they had been married two or more times and 24.4% of women reporting they had been married two or more times.

These high divorce rates for Tennessee couples persist despite state efforts such as offering couples $60 off a marriage license if they go through marriage counseling. Divorce happens for any number of reasons. Getting married at a younger age has been a common factor in higher rates of divorce as well. Some of the most commonly cited reasons for divorce include:

• Children
• Parenting
• Health
• End of life care
• Religion
• Expectations for intimacy

Whatever the reason for you considering the possibility of divorce, it is best to take steps right away to protect your best interests in the event divorce proceedings occur. Experienced Murfreesboro divorce attorney David Scott will counsel you on how to protect yourself should divorce be inevitable. Doing things like taking inventory of all jointly and individually held banking and financial accounts and checking up on the status of your individual credit report can help protect your legal rights in divorce.

Additionally, our Murfreesboro divorce attorney counsels you on the best ways to proceed should there be children resulting from the marriage. The actions you take now, while you are considering divorce, can have a big impact on how divorce proceedings actually unfold. People often do not understand things like leaving your kids in the marital home with your spouse and going to live on your own elsewhere may jeopardize your chances at gaining custody of the children later on.