Minnesota Divorce and Family Law Blog

New Divorce Study

A new study on children of divorce has been mentioned in recent news headlines. Allen Li, of the Rand Corporation, evaluated children before and after their parents divorced, between 1979 and 2002. The more common methodology of past research had compared children of divorce to children in intact families.

Li's study drew upon a national sample of more than 6,000 children between ages 4 and 15, whose mothers were surveyed during the term of the study.

The fact that Li interviewed the mothers, but not the fathers, of the children is puzzling. The study is being described as something that could reframe the debate on divorce. There is nothing to suggest that the research lacks validity just because the responses came from mothers only. But the exclusion of fathers from the study is a striking gap.

If this study is considered an improved methodology over past research, it would appear that future research could improve upon this current research by gathering data from both fathers and mothers.

Changing Your Mind About Divorce

If someone starts a divorce action and then changes their mind about it, then the consequences depend on the intentions of the other spouse. If the other spouse wants the divorce to proceed, then the divorce will proceed. But if the other spouse does NOT want the divorce, then the divorce action is dismissed, and the parties remain married.

As an example, if the husband commences the divorce action by serving a Petition, the wife has the option of serving an Answer and Counter-Petition, or just an Answer. By including the Counter-Petition, the wife is asserting that she wants the divorce to proceed whether the husband changes his mind or not. If the husband withdraws the Petition, then the divorce will proceed on the Counter-Petition. If the wife does not include a Counter-Petition, she is asserting that she does not want the divorce to proceed if the husband changes his mind and withdraws the Petition. In that instance, if the husband withdraws the Petition, there is no action on which to proceed.

If the parties decide to reconcile after the divorce begins, the parties must work together to withdraw the action. And of course, if they decide to reconcile after the divorce is final, then their options are to remarry, or to live happily ever after, together and unmarried.