Divorce Trends in High-Conflict Professions: What You Need To Know To Protect Your Future

Divorces involving high-conflict professions often present unique challenges, including emotional strain, complex financial issues, and parenting disputes, but with the right legal and strategic support, couples can navigate these obstacles and secure a fair outcome.

Key takeaways:

• The stress, long hours, and emotional toll of high-conflict professions often lead to marital challenges and complicate custody, communication, and work-life balance during divorce  

• High-conflict divorces frequently involve sophisticated assets, privacy concerns, and spousal support considerations, requiring professional guidance to protect wealth and achieve equitable solutions

• Engaging an experienced divorce attorney and leveraging financial and tax advisors can help mitigate the unique difficulties of these divorces while ensuring long-term goals and priorities are met

High-stakes careers often come with high-stakes personal challenges, including a higher likelihood of divorce. In a Forbes Advisor survey, 46% of respondents named “career choices” as the number one conflict in their marriage. High-conflict professions often have demanding workloads, intense stress levels, and long hours, which commonly leads the other spouse to feel neglected or as if they are not a priority. Elizabeth Cohen, a clinical psychologist known as “The Divorce Doctor,” says that work can become a welcome distraction for people who are not ready to acknowledge or discuss the dysfunction in their partnership. Therefore, divorce is frequently the end result for many couples. Moreover, the divorce process for those in high-conflict professions - as well as their spouses - is typically much more involved than others. There are some trends that are more common in these kinds of divorces that add an additional level of complexity, including:

• Sophisticated finances

• Stress and emotional burnout

• Public image and privacy concerns

• Parenting challenges

• Communication barriers

• Work/life imbalances

• A different in power dynamics between the spouses

• And more. 

In this blog, we’ll cover some of the most common divorce issues couples face when one spouse is in a high-conflict field of work and offer some insights and strategies for navigating the process while managing a demanding career. 

Why High-Conflict Professions Face Unique Divorce Challenges

It comes as no surprise that high-conflict professions are so categorized because of the obvious conflict that they typically yield. “High-conflict” doesn’t always mean “high-earning,” either - in fact, many of these professions involve more emotional or logistical types of conflict as opposed to financial. High-conflict fields include careers like:

• Military personnel 

• First responders (police, firefighters, and EMTs)

• Attorneys 

• Entrepreneurs and business owners

• Executives (CEOs, engineers, developers)

• Entertainers and performers

• Journalists and media professionals

• Healthcare professionals (doctors, nurses, surgeons, therapists)

• Politicians and public figures

• Pilots and flight attendants

These professions often bring an immense amount of stress and long hours to the worker, as well as their spouses and children. The constant time away from family, as well as the emotional and mental fatigue of high-pressure roles can slowly begin to wreak havoc, leading to divorce and custody disputes in many cases. For those professions that are high-conflict as well as high-earning, the financial impact can be severe, as there are typically considerable assets and property that must be divided. There is also a concern for the couple’s privacy and a risk of public scrutiny, especially if the spouse is a high-profile individual. All of these layers of complexity make the divorce process for high-conflict professionals much more intricate and complicated. 

Legal and Financial Considerations Asset Division

Texas is a community property state, so the asset division procedure for divorcing couples is fairly-cut and-dried: each spouse is entitled to an equal (50%) share of the marital property. However, this is the “default” procedure, and it does not mean that a couple cannot work together to reach their own agreement regarding which spouse gets what assets, and in what amount. Most of the financial challenges arise due to complex assets that are difficult to value or divide, such as business interests, real estate holdings, stock options, investment portfolios, and more. The type of divorce a couple files for can also have an impact on how the property is divided; for example, if the non-high-conflict professional spouse files for a fault-based divorce and is able to successfully prove the fault of the marriage breaking down lies with the other spouse, they may be awarded a larger share of the assets. 

Spousal Support

Spousal support - or alimony - in Texas is a rare concept, but for those in high-conflict and high-earning professions, it is more common. There are only a few circumstances in which alimony is paid in Texas divorce, but some may be more applicable to couples where one spouse is in a high-conflict field. For example, the requesting spouse must demonstrate that they lack sufficient property or income to meet their reasonable needs and that one of the following applies:

• The paying spouse has been convicted of or received deferred adjudication for a crime of family violence committed against the other spouse or the couple’s children within two years before filing for divorce or during the divorce process

• The marriage lasted 10 years or more and the requesting spouse lacks the ability to earn sufficient income to meet their minimum reasonable needs, and is making efforts to develop skills or find employment 

Again, spouses also have the opportunity to reach their own agreement regarding spousal support, whether it be temporary or long-term, even if the statutory requirements are not met. 

Custody Arrangements

Custody (called conservatorship in Texas) and visitation arrangements can be difficult to agree on in these types of divorces. As already stated, it is common for the spouse with a high-conflict career to to be less involved in their kids’ lives due to their demanding time obligations, which can lead to custody disputes. However, Texas courts encourage joint custody arrangements as much as possible, as it is believed to be in the best interests of most children. Therefore, couples bear the burden of seeking a custody plan that promotes the overall well-being of their kids while accounting for the busy schedule that the high-conflict professional parent often has. 

Tips for Navigating Divorce When One Spouse Has a High-Conflict Career

Whether you are the spouse in a high-conflict profession or not, you should prepare for your divorce to deal with a lot of complex issues. In order to secure the best possible outcome, you’ll need an experienced and skilled Texas divorce attorney to help guide you through the process. They’ve likely handled countless divorces similar to yours throughout their career, so they know how best to protect your wealth, your privacy, and your parental rights to secure the most optimum outcome on your behalf.A strategic divorce attorney can also help you consider alternative methods of dispute resolution, like mediation and collaborative divorce, which can help you save time and money while reaching an agreement without the need for court intervention. Long, drawn-out divorce litigation can harm both a person’s personal and professional reputation, among other pitfalls. Finally, for couples with a high-net-worth, working with financial advisors and tax professionals can be critical to the financial outcome of the divorce. They can assist with valuations, provide guidance on dividing complex assets such as businesses, investment portfolios or real estate, and help minimize the tax impact early to avoid surprises. Additionally, these professionals can help structure settlements in a way that aligns with long-term financial goals, such as ensuring cash flow, protecting retirement accounts, and addressing future tax liabilities. 

At Hembree Bell Law Firm, We Understand The Impact That These Types of Divorces Can Have On All Parties. We’re Committed To Helping You Navigate Each Step With Patience and Efficacy.

Whether you are the spouse with the high-conflict profession or not, these divorces come with their own unique challenges, but with the right legal strategies and support in place, you can protect your interests and achieve a fair outcome. Our legal team has decades of collective practical experience, and has handled countless cases similar to yours, so you can have peace of mind with us in your corner. We’ll sit down with you to learn more about your situation, your family, your finances, and what is most important to you. Then, we’ll craft a tailored plan of action that puts you in the best possible position for achieving your goals! Moreover, we’ll provide any resources, connections, and information you need to promote your overall mental, emotional, and financial wellness, because we truly care about your ability to move forward and build the life you desire. Call today to book your free case evaluation and learn more about how we can serve you!