(From KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia attorneys say calls from couples splitting up during the pandemic have surged, with a number of factors are contributing to the spike.
“People who were contemplating divorce before COVID hit, and probably shouldn’t have lived together, but stayed together and that just compounded the unhappiness in that household,” said attorney Lee Schwartz of Schwartz, Fox & Saltzman, LLC Firm.
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“Whether it’s differences in co-parenting, differences in anything, whether it’s a TV show, being together 24-7 in close quarters is difficult for anyone and I think that people that previously had differences, those differences are highlighted in quarantine,” said Rebecca Kolsky of the Freedman & Lorry law firm.
Schwartz said some couples waited to file as family court has been mostly closed the last few months, with few emergency hearings scheduled. But now with the backup of filings, it could take longer than the typical year to complete the process.
“If people do have their economics worked out, and they agree to be divorced, you could be realistically divorced in five to six months, but that’s unusual,” he said.