If you read enough divorce analysis papers, you’ll find that a lack of money often leads to divorce. It just creates too much financial stress. The marriage cannot take it. Trying to live off the income of one person who makes minimum wage slowly ruins that relationship.
However, that does not mean that being rich insulates you from divorce completely. Many successful people who have amassed great wealth — millionaires and billionaires — still wind up ending their marriages. This shows that money alone isn’t the problem. These are people with enough money to be more than secure for the rest of their lives even if they never worked again, and yet they still get divorced. Why is that?
The reasons, of course, vary from one relationship to the next. However, some believe that many highly successful people share some similar personality traits.
“They are dyslexic, they are autistic, they have ADD, they are square pegs in round holes, they piss people off, get into arguments, rock the boat,” wrote the ex-wife of billionaire Elon Musk.
What this tells you — and, granted, this is just her opinion from having gone through it — is that people who reach this level of wealth may have other traits that make it hard for a relationship to last. Certainly, someone who is obsessed with their work and constantly starting arguments could be difficult to live with. The very thing that helped them get rich may end the marriage.
Are you and your spouse splitting up with significant assets? You need to know what steps to take to protect your interests.
