A new study done by three researchers at Brown University, Harvard University, and The University of California San Diego shows that the chances of somebody getting a divorce dramatically increase when those around them are going through a divorce or are divorced.

Their results showed that people with a divorced friend are 75 percent more likely to get a divorce than people whose friends are happily married.  People with friends of friends who are divorced are 33 percent more likely to become divorced.  Furthermore, people with divorced coworkers are 55 percent more likely to get a divorce than people with married coworkers.  People with a divorced sibling are 22 percent more likely to become divorced than people with married siblings.

The researches named this phenomenon  "divorce clustering".

If you or someone you know is considering filing for divorce, contact the Raleigh divorce lawyers of Marshall & Taylor P.C. at 919-833-1040 to learn more about your rights. 

Gaston County's current divorce rate is 59 percent- three percent more than North Carolina's 56 percent, and 9 percent higher than the national average of 50 percent.

Now, a delegation to the North Carolina General Assembly is asking Gaston County commissioners for a thirty-day waiting period before marriages are performed in the state, in which time couples are required to take premarital counseling.  The thirty-day period could only be waived with certification of prior premarital counseling.

The idea for the resolution initially came from the First Things First of Gaston County organization, according to State Representative Will Neumann, whose mission is "to bring better quality of life by strengthening families, specifically reducing divorce, out-of-wedlock births and the number of absent parents".

No bill has currently been introduced, but officials believe that what is now being proposed in Gaston County could easily spread state-wide. 

If you or someone you know is considering divorce, contact the Raleigh divorce lawyers of Marshall & Taylor P.C. at 919-833-1040 to learn more about your rights.

The recent announcement of Al, 62, and Tipper, 61, Gore's pending divorce is making marriage experts and psychologists take notice of the rising numbers in late-in-life divorces.

The pair have been married for forty years but experts expect their separate careers and busy lives contributed to them filing for divorce.  Furthermore, as late-in-life divorces have increased over the past few years, experts cite generational changes in the baby boomer generation.  Baby boomers, they believe, have more independent values and are more self-centered than previous generations.

The Office of National Statistics has stated that divorce rates are falling in all categories, except in the over 60 category.

Last year, Bertie and Jessie Woods made history as the world's oldest divorced couple, divorcing when both were 98.

If you are considering a divorce, contact the Raleigh divorce attorneys of Marshall & Taylor, P.C. today by calling 919-833-1040.

The social networking site, Facebook, grows daily and currently reports having 400 million users.  Considering this, it may seem easy to believe that something posted on one's Facebook is trivial and that your page is only one in millions.

However, Facebook is becoming the new source for attorneys and private investigators to gather evidence on suspects.  In divorce cases, it is very common for a husband or wife to come to an attorney with suspicion of infidelity, only for this to be confirmed via wall posts, statuses, and pictures posted on Facebook.

In a recent case this past April, a woman saw her lawyer after believing her husband had started drinking again.  After a friend informed her of pictures on his facebook of him drinking alcohol a few weeks before the case, her lawyer decided to present these to the court knowing it would undermine the husband's credibility.  The wife won the case soon after.

Simple things like someone's apparent behavior or the way they express themselves online can be the pivitol factor in a case.

If you or someone you know is considering a divorce contact the Raleigh divorce lawyers of Marhsall & Taylor P.C. at 919-833-1040 to learn more about your rights.  

The marriage between rapper Nas and singer Kelis Rogers has officially ended as of last Friday, according to officials.

As a part of the divorce, Nas will be paying spousal support to Kelis and child support for their 10-month-old son. Originally, a judge had ordered Nas to pay $10,000 a month in child and spousal support, but he has claimed that he can not afford that and there will now be a review of his yearly income.

The couple filed for divorce last year after being married for almost five years. Currently, Kelis has custody of the couple's child.

If you or a loved one has been considering divorce, contact the Raleigh divorce lawyers of Marshall & Taylor, P.C. by calling 919-833-1040.

When men contribute to housework, shopping, and childcare, their marriage is far more likely to be stable and remain so, a recent academic study claims. 

“The results suggest that the risk of divorce among working mothers, while greater, is substantially reduced when fathers contribute more to housework and childcare," said Wendy Sigle-Rushton, a senior lecturer at the London School of Economics. 

“That men’s failure to contribute to housework can increase the risk of divorce may seem surprising, given that all of the families in my sample had fairly young children over the time period they are followed and a divorce would have had substantial economic consequences and would not have relieved most mothers of housework and childcare responsibilities,” she continued. 

The risk of divorce in a situation where the woman returns to the workplace while her husband does not help in the housework increases 97 percent, according to the report.

“This study underscores the importance of taking into account relationships between’s men’s behaviour and marital stability. In economic and sociological research, there has been too great an emphasis on women’s paid work and not enough attention given to the division of unpaid work,” said Sigle-Rushton.

If you are facing marital trouble or are looking for legal advice when it comes to divorce, contact the Raleigh divorce lawyers of the Marshall & Taylor Law Firm, P.C., today at 919-833-1040.

Actor Charlie Sheen has surrendered legal custody of his two children to his ex-wife Denise Richards.

The star of 'Two and A Half Men' has been locked in a bitter custody battle with his actress ex-wife since divorcing in 2006. Richards has been seeking full custody of the couple's two children, six year-old Sam and four year-old Lola Rose. 

According to documents filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, both Sheen and Richards have agreed to give full legal custody of the two children to Denise Richards. Richards claims she began seeking full custody following Sheen's highly-publicised marital problems with his current wife Brooke Mueller.

The Raleigh child custody attorneys of the Marshall & Taylor Law Firm, P.C., understand how important parental rights are to you. We will work hard to keep you fully informed about your rights and obligations, and present the best legal case we can build for you in court. To learn about our approach to family law, contact our offices at 919-833-1040.