Tonight’s post about Divorce at Valentines Day was written by our Savannah family law attorney, David Purvis.
At first blush, Valentine’s Day is a bit of an odd topic for a family law blog. Often, the work of family law can feel quite love-less. One of the benefits of The Manely Firm, P.C.‘s approach to family law is that, rather than view our work as dividing a family, we take the approach of multiplying the family. Rather than focusing on the negative of the “nuclear” family spliting apart, our focus with our clients is on creating the “bi-nuclear” family.
The first part of the year is traditionally some of the busiest months in the work of family law. The holiday season is over and, quite frankly, many people have decided that they cannot endure another year of their marriage. As Valentine’s Day approaches, many people realize that their marriage is broken, and hopefully, they realize that happiness is possible in a relationship and that they deserver it. I hope that realization brings some hope to these folks.
Getting a divorce does not require you to no longer love your spouse. Sometimes, it does, but often, couples still love each other yet realize their marriage is broken. Sometimes, in these situations, discernment counseling or marriage counseling can repair the break and the marriage can continue. Sometimes, discernment counseling and/or marriage counseling leads to the conclusion that, while the couple may still love each other, the marriage itself truly is irretrievably broken. Having ex-spouses that still love each other, in some sense of the term, makes for some wonderful bi-nuclear families.
Love is truly a remarkable word in the English language. It’s meaning varies from one relationship to another. It is okay to still love your ex spouse, even though it is a different feeling of love than when your marriage was strong.
Life happens. Love changes.