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As the economic situation worsens, couples across the country — and their lawyers — face an interesting question. Can Cupid withstand a recession?

The answer, like love itself, is elusive. At the very least, it’s too early in the recession relationship to say definitively. There are two contradictory trains of thought.

First, there is the argument that worry and anxiety over money will lead to greater strains in marriages. Indeed, according to Nobel prize-winning economist Gary Becker, when the economy goes down, the divorce rate goes up. On the other hand, a lack of financial resources may force more couples to stay together, at least temporarily, or forego the more-expensive services of a lawyer.

For now, it seems to be business as usual for family lawyers in Canada. “Here in B.C. the recession has not yet seriously affected us, at least in the lower mainland,” said David Hart, a lawyer with Campbell, Burton & McMullan LLP in Langley, B.C.

However, he noted, if history repeats itself, the situation could be quite different in three to six months time. “It was my experience in the previous recessions in the early eighties and nineties the economic effects on my family practice did not become evident until we were into a recovery.”

For Ron Foster, a family law lawyer with Foster Richmond LLP in Calgary, “the economy is not affecting the divorce rate. It’s high, but it’s the same whether it’s a recession. There are (just) different problems.”

In a recession, those problems are often firmly focused on money, the lack of it and fewer prospects for bouncing back. “Lately I have found my files to be, in general, more acrimonious,” said Lisa Wyatt, a lawyer with Pushor Mitchell LLP in Kelowna, B.C. “There is no doubt in my mind that the slowdown in our real estate market is causing stress.”

The family home is usually the most valuable asset to divide, along with investment portfolios, she noted. “So as the values of both shrink, or if the house cannot be readily sold to capture that equity, often couples are left holding onto a house that won’t sell while still having to pay the mortgage, rent for the other spouse who has moved out, etc. No question that causes stress, and stress often leads to acrimony.”

On the other hand, there may simply be no money in the bank to embroil in a battle. “I suspect that if incomes go down, employment lost, that attempts at cost efficiency will result in more emphasis on the less-aggressive, and less-costly dispute resolution mechanisms,” said Michele Cleary, a lawyer with Chandler Moore in Halifax.

“A few things are becoming obvious,” she noted. “Implications as to who has temporary possession of the home will be more significant as the ‘temporary’ occupation may last longer in a bad selling market, and of course, accurate/recent valuation of all assets will be all the more critical.”
Indeed, said Foster, “valuation issues are tougher now.”

Many people, he noted, had a good financial year last year but claim they won’t have the same financial success this year. “We need to understand occupations and sectors to know how well someone is doing. It has to be market appropriate.”

Money matters are paramount for many couples weathering a recession, so it is not surprising that many of those couples will look to save a few dollars where they can. “There are lots of people who are doing their best to navigate the system without counsel,” noted Wyatt.

“Having two people attend in family court to resolve interim issues of parenting and support is common, but because only the superior courts have jurisdiction on the divorce itself, and on asset division, these are more complicated matters where legal assistance at some point during the file is fairly crucial. Often, then, one spouse will only get counsel,” she said.

Couples are also looking outside the legal system for help navigating through a divorce, said Foster. “There are many people who are advertising cheaper alternatives to lawyers.”

Those alternatives are now virtual. Last year in the U.K., for example, Divorce-Online (which has processed 43,000 divorces since 2000 and deals with 150 percent more cases than the “average solicitor’s practice”) launched a national advertising campaign promoting the benefits of using its service. The target audience: couples whose divorce is likely to be uncontested and who “do not need to spend thousands of pounds with Solicitors to achieve an amicable divorce.”

But even the most amicable divorce requires legal diligence. Couples who walk in with an agreement they feel is already signed, sealed and delivered still need effective counsel, said Foster. “Lawyers have an absolute duty to investigate. People do different things for different reasons, and they may not have anything to do with the law.”

It may not even have anything to do with love.