Recession may be right time for divorce, lawyer suggests

MICHAEL SASSO

Tampa Tribune

In the classic wedding vows -- the ones with ''for richer, for poorer'' -- there's no mention of the best time to divorce. But one divorce lawyer is trying to fill the gap. His suggestion: If a man's going to leave his wife anyway, the recession might be the time to do it. Income, business assets and other holdings are probably way down in value now, attorney Joe Cordell reasons, so the husband will probably feel less pain in splitting them with his spouse.

Cordell, who is advertising heavily with male-oriented talk radio and sports programs, insists he's not encouraging divorce. He's just pushing a pragmatic approach if a breakup looks inevitable. ''It's not a controversial point to make that if a guy's going to be in front of a judge, it's going to be advantageous if it's when his assets are at an ebb, rather than a peak,'' Cordell said. Based in St. Louis, Cordell specializes in representing men in divorce cases and custody disputes. He oversees 21 legal offices around the country, including one in Tampa. Some rival family lawyers say the message makes some sense, even if they're not comfortable with the pitch.

Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/business/story/1148175.html