Is the down economy to blame for your divorce? Charlotte divorce attorney, Erin Clarey, joins us this week to discuss how an unfavorable economy can affect a marriage, as well as a divorce.

Is your divorce doomed to face the judgment of the courts? Not necessarily. Our guest, collaborative Raleigh attorney Deborah Throm,  joins us this week to discuss how the collaborative divorce process works and if you and your spouse are ideal candidates.

What circumstances allow me to have my marriage annulled? Raleigh divorce lawyer Lee Rosen joins us to talk about what allows marriages to be annulled, and to give some advice on how to find out if your marriage is eligible for annulment.

Under what circumstances should you file for child custody? Raleigh divorce lawyer Lee Rosen joins us to talk about what situations would warrant making your case to have custody of your children.

The New York Times ran an interesting article last week that invesitgates why some people rush into either marriage or divorce not because of love, but health benefits.

While there is no record just how often this happens, lawyers say they are seeing cases on a regular basis where couples marry or divorce in part so one spouse can obtain or maintain health coverage.

According to several recent parenting studies, couples with children have lower economic stability, lower emotional well-being, and experience more frequent negative emotions than those without children.

Some parenting studies also reveal that parents have higher levels of depression than adults without children.

These findings go against cultural assumptions that having kids makes you happy.

I just read an interesting piece in USA Today that explores the rules of infidelity.

Is infidelity just about having an affair or does infidelity also involve having lunch everyday with a coworker of the opposite sex? If you abstain from a physical relationship are you safe from being accused of cheating?

Marriage experts say that infidelity can exist even if adultery isn’t part of the picture.

In today’s world, what do you think are the rules of infidelity?

Bachelor Carl Weisman’s recent survey of 1,533 heterosexual men revealed that men were 10 times more scared of marrying the wrong person than never marrying at all.

In 1980 about 6 percent of men in their early 40′s have never married, compared to a current statistic that showed that number had risen to about 17 percent.

According to a recent LavalifePRIME survey of 1,001 adults ages 45-65 in the USA and Canada, 31% have never been married.

The author of So Why Have You Never Been Married?, Carl Weisman, also did a survey and found in 1,533 bachelors ages 40 and older, 48% said they were afraid of marrying the wrong person.

According to a survey conducted by Connecticut-based Prince & Associates, 2/3 of 1,134 people polled nationally said they would marry an average-looking person if they had money- being like $1.5 million.

Does that kind of money even get you very far these days? It certainly couldn’t secure a lifetime of financial happiness. Yet, the survey respondents had annual incomes between $30,000 and $60,000.

But 43 percent of those who responded to the survey said that they would probably end up divorcing their $1.5 million mate. At least they were smart enough to know that money can’t by love.

Since the 1960′s, men’s contribution around the house has doubled from 15% to 30%. A recent study by the The Council on Contemporary Families at the University of Illinois, Chicago shows more husbands are willingly sharing the responsibility of housework and childcare.

The study also shows the longer a wife is employed, the more her husband does work around the house.

Demographers are referring to the Second Demographic Transition, where the increase in divorce in the 1960′s and the trend for people to marry or remarry later in life has increased the potential for wider martial age gaps.

According to 2006 Census data, roughly one-third of husbands are at least four years older than their wives.

And a Stanford University report says, ‘the older a man is when he marries after 40, the greater the likelihood that his bride will be significantly younger – whether that man is wealthy or not.’

Experts say the male ideal of beauty is typically a woman in her early 20′s and this ideal remains as men grow older.

1895 was the year of the first showing of Oscar Wilde’s last play The Importance of Being Earnest, and its also the date that’s being used to show the decline in marriages in England and Wales.

According to the Office of National Statistics, marriage in England and Wales is the lowest since 1895.

Some say they aren’t surprised given the lack of government policy encouraging tying the knot and the existing welfare system, which some believe penalises against marriages.

According to a report recently released by the Council on Contemporary Families, men’s contribution to household work has doubled over the last four decades.

An there is a lot of correlation to show that men gain better intimately when they help out around the house.

It often becomes a concern when married people develop close relationships with people of the opposite sex. Though experts say it is possible to maintain a healthy marriage while also possessing a friendship with a person of the opposite sex.

The trouble with opposite sex friendships is psychologically based in the sense that we often choose friends on the same basis in which we choose mates such as their intellectual capacity, world views, values and attractiveness, and so on.

But how can you prevent the relationship from escalating to the next level?

An estimated 1 in 5 couples have sexless marriage, which therapists define as having sex less than 10 times a year. Experts say when couples aren’t having sex they aren’t connecting on a level that brings them closer together, which leads to conflict.

How do you set expectations so that both spouses are content with the level of intimacy in the relationship?

Click here for surprising reasons why you may be in a sexless relationship.

Southwest Florida pastor Paul Wirth urged married couples in his congregation to make love every day for 30 days to bring a positive outcome to strained marriages in an effort to quell the rising divorce rate .

There is even a Web site that’s open to the public: www.30daysexchallenge.com

Single people are also taking the challenge by practicing abstinence for 30 days.

When couples lose the routine and social web of their home life to move abroad, martial strains can become overbearing.

Often times, if the move is tied to a company in the US, a spouse may work extended hours to coincide with his or her American coworkers.

I recently read this article in the Wall Street Journal that covers expatriate life. Writer Alan Paul shares his own experiences and gives advice to those looking to relocate abroad.

A new study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine showed that people who were involved in bad relationships had a 34 percent increase in developing coronary problems later in life. This study involved both couples in bad marriages and unmarried couples in negative relationships.

Contrary to the belief that married couples are overall healthier than unmarried couples, the study reveals it’s the quality of the marriage or relationship that presides over an individual’s health.

According to the N.C. Center for Health Statistics, roughly 65,000 people were married in N.C. in 2006, and more than half that number divorced.

Now three high schools in Halifax county are part of the Healthy Marriage Demonstration Program which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The course teaches students on how to deal with their emotions and have healthy relationships based on mutuality and respect.

Other North Carolina counties are also applying to have similar courses offered in their schools.

Educators are hoping this course helps reduce the rates of divorce and domestic violence.