Nancy Chemtob speaks with Crain’s New York Business on how divorce is becoming easier for some New Yorkers.
Crain’s New York Business: Now, breaking up is easier to do
For most, dissolving a marriage has become prohibitively expensive, and divorce rates nationwide have plummeted during the economic crisis. But for a subset of New Yorkers, particularly high-tax-bracket financial and legal types, divorce is the latest means of wealth preservation. In the first quarter of 2009, divorce work came to a virtual standstill in New York and across the United States, attorneys report. “I’ve been in this business 15 years, and it was the slowest I’d ever seen,” says Nancy Chemtob, a partner at boutique law firm Chemtob Moss Forman & Talbert.
Many took the divorce lull as a sign that the recession was bringing people together. But that’s a fairy-tale interpretation, according to family lawyers, therapists and real estate agents who’ve witnessed a major uptick in divorce-related work over the past few months. “Love is not in the air,” reports Sue Moss, a partner at Chemtob Moss. “Since January, it’s been insane. We’re the busiest we’ve ever been.”
For most, dissolving a marriage has become prohibitively expensive, and divorce rates nationwide have plummeted during the economic crisis. But for a subset of New Yorkers, particularly high-tax-bracket financial and legal types, divorce is the latest means of wealth preservation. In the first quarter of 2009, divorce work came to a virtual standstill in New York and across the United States, attorneys report. “I’ve been in this business 15 years, and it was the slowest I’d ever seen,” says Nancy Chemtob, a partner at boutique law firm Chemtob Moss Forman & Talbert.
Many took the divorce lull as a sign that the recession was bringing people together. But that’s a fairy-tale interpretation, according to family lawyers, therapists and real estate agents who’ve witnessed a major uptick in divorce-related work over the past few months. “Love is not in the air,” reports Sue Moss, a partner at Chemtob Moss. “Since January, it’s been insane. We’re the busiest we’ve ever been.”
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