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Why Do Highly Successful People Get Divorced?

| Apr 14, 2016 | Divorce |

Every divorce is different, but there are some issues common to many marital splits, regardless of who the spouses are and how much money they make.

Infidelity, abuse, addiction, and restless boredom are all common factors that often lead to divorce, no matter who you are.

Or the reasons for the marital split may be cumulative, amounting to a long list of irreconcilable differences, which of course may include the above-listed common factors. Often in these cases, the spouses have changed so much over time that they hardly even know each other anymore (or maybe now they know far too much) and it only makes sense to end the marriage and look to a better future.

However, with celebrities and other people with a high net worth, there tend to be divorce-causing factors that are specific to each spouse’s level of success.

You’ll often hear, for instance, that high-profile couples have difficulty finding time to actually be together, given the travel demands of their respective jobs. Whether you’re an entertainer or a CEO, you may have to intentionally carve out a week or two to be with your spouse and children. If your husband or wife has the same kinds of professional obligations, it may be virtually impossible to make the marriage work.

And it goes without saying that distance does not always make the heart grow fonder. The reality is that, like everyone else, entertainers and other high net-worth individuals have needs that can’t be fully met through texts, phone calls and Skype.

But as actress Scarlet Johansson recently pointed out, there may be a factor even bigger than distance and emotional drifting that leads to divorce among highly successful people.

With few exceptions, to reach a high level of success, you have to be extraordinarily competitive. As Johansson said in a recent interview, that drive and competitiveness can also become an issue between spouses, especially if one spouse’s career is outpacing the other’s.

At Gunnstaks Law Office, we’ve seen firsthand how that kind of competition can spill over into the courtroom. Whether the issue is child custody or the division of complex assets, there is much at stake for couples with a strong professional drive and a high net worth.

To protect their parental rights and their financial future, divorcing spouses need strong legal representation in and out of the courtroom. These are the kinds of cases we handle at Gunnstaks Law Office. To learn more, please see our overview of high net-worth divorce.


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