Pasadena Sees Uptick in Divorces During Pandemic

Mirroring a national trend, attorneys in Pasadena say they’ve seen an increase in divorce filings over the course of the ongoing pandemic.

The national legal document vendor LegalTemplates reported a 34 percent increase in sales of divorce agreements during the pandemic, compared with the same period last year.

The nationwide trend was most pronounced among newlyweds, as couples married less than five years made up 58 percent of those purchasing divorce documents, representing a 16 percent jump over 2019, according to the company.

“However, it was extremely recently married couples — five months or less — that experienced the most devastation,” according to LegalTemplate.

Couples with children saw a 5 percent increase in completion of divorce filings compared with last year, amounting to about 45 percent of the breakups.

Donald Schweitzer, a managing partner at Schweitzer Law Partners in Pasadena, said he’s noticed an increase, although not at the levels reflected by national data.

“In our law firm, there’s been an uptick in family wealth cases, including divorces for the year 2020,” he said. “We have more people contacting our office in need of help with family law cases than in 2019. I wouldn’t say that it’s soaring to the point where things are out of control, but surprisingly, in spite of COVID, we’ve actually had more cases come in this year.”

Divorce filings dropped off dramatically in the early weeks of the pandemic, as the state issued its first round of stay-at-home orders, according to Schweitzer.

“I think people were just frozen. And then after the lockdown was stopped, there was a huge surge. It just seemed like people were just waiting to call,” he said. “That was surprising, but it didn’t last. It lasted a couple of months maybe.”

The added stresses of life amid the pandemic are likely playing a role in driving couples apart, he said.

“Some of the uptick might be because people are living together and they’re having to suffer quite a bit together. Some of these unemployment issues and things of that nature, it seems to be a very common argument among people,” Schweitzer said. 

“Financial issues are frequently a cause of divorce and certainly with COVID, when the employment is questionable, that causes stress in relationships. We’ve seen some of that.”

But divorces are not the only family law issue being strongly impacted by the pandemic, he said. Child custody disputes, for instance, have been complicated by the situation.

“People are using COVID-19 as either a sword or a shield, and they’re either denying custody or not exercising custody,” Schweitzer said. “And it has caused some legitimate concerns because sometimes visitations take place in public places.”

But some adaptations due to the pandemic have helped streamline processes, he said.

“In some respects, the system has become more efficient because of the fact that we can file by email now,” he said. “And the ability of appearing [in court] by phone has made some of this stuff a little bit easier, and it’s possible that these are changes that will never go away. Some of this stuff is going to last even after COVID, definitely.”

As pandemic-induced stress continues to mount, Schweitzer said he advised couples not to rush into any rash decisions.

“Everybody is suffering right now. We’re all in this together to some degree or another. And your pain that you’re feeling might not really be related to your spouse. It might be just a depression about all the things that we’re going through. Make sure that you look at your situation in the proper light,” he said.

“On the other hand, you should not be in an abusive relationship, and if you find yourself having to stay with an abuser 24-7, then you’ve got to get out of that situation.”

Schweitzer declined to offer a prediction for what the coming months may hold.

“We’ve been in practice here for almost 20 years, and I’ve learned that you just go with the flow,” he said.

Law and Mediation Offices of Kelly Chang in Pasadena founder Kelly Chang Rickert said she, too, noticed a lull in the early stages of the pandemic, followed by an increase in filings. But she didn’t find that the overall number of divorces had necessarily increased.

Rickert said the rate of divorce she has seen overall has been the same. There was a lull between March and May, but then a surge during the summer. Then, about two to three weeks before Thanksgiving, Rickert said she experienced another surge in clients.

Rickert also advised thoughtful decision-making but added that for those who have decided to divorce it’s best to get the process started promptly.

“If you are going through a divorce, get everything settled as soon as possible because the courthouses are a mess right now,” she said. “With the pandemic going on, the courts are even less interested in hearing petty disputes. You should always resolve family problems on your own anyway, but especially now.”

Rickert said she highly recommends the use of divorce mediation at all times, but especially during the pandemic.