I Read 1,000 Divorce Files So You Don't Have To
By Margot Reyes
What the paperwork reveals about why marriages really end
Patterns pulled from a thousand real divorce files — the actual reasons marriages end, the Four Horsemen, the seasonality of splitting up, and what the data says about regret, gray divorce, and staying together for the kids.
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Gray Divorce After 50: Why It's Different From Every Other Divorce
Divorce among people over 50 has roughly doubled in a generation. What makes gray divorce financially and emotionally different from divorce earlier in life.
How to Choose a Divorce Attorney: What Files Reveal Lawyers Wish Clients Knew
What lawyers see that clients don't, the pattern attorneys find most avoidable, and how to actually choose the right divorce attorney for your specific situation.
Staying Together for the Kids: What the Long-Term Data Actually Says
The assumption behind 'staying together for the kids,' what that actually tends to look like day to day, and what children of divorce say later — according to the long-term research.
The Amicable Divorce Myth: What the Mediation Data Actually Shows
'We're keeping this amicable' is one of the most common phrases in early divorce conversations — and one of the least likely to survive contact with the actual process.
The Divorce Regret Data: Who Regrets It, and Who Doesn't
What the actual data says about divorce regret — how common it is, who's more likely to feel it, and what separates divorces that might have been saved from ones that shouldn't have been.
The Four Horsemen: Criticism, Contempt, Defensiveness, and Stonewalling Explained
John Gottman's four communication patterns that predict divorce with striking accuracy — what each one actually looks like, and which one matters most.
The Real Reasons Marriages End (What a Thousand Divorce Files Actually Show)
The four reasons that actually drive divorce, ranked by how often they show up in real case files — and why the order surprises most people.
Why Divorce Filings Spike in March and August: The Seasonality of Splitting Up
Divorce filings follow a surprisingly consistent yearly pattern, with two distinct peaks — what's actually driving the March spike and the separate August spike.