Going through divorce is a difficult thing for everyone involved. More often than not, the division of assets will take up a large part of the stress load for couples, too.
Some people believe that tensions will grow and arguments will worsen as a couple’s net worth rises. But is this actually true?
What is the fighting class?
Business Insider takes a look at divorce statistics. This includes statistics on who gets amicable divorces versus those who end up fighting either through proxy or directly. The patterns that appear may surprise some.
First, there is a select amount of people who are more likely to fight over money in divorce. This is the “fighting class”, dubbed so for the numerous disputes people get involved in. It is also called the upper-middle class.
Couples with $1 million to $5 million in net worth tend to fight the most over their finances. This is often due to the fact that they live comfortably, but do not feel set for life. The financial insecurity leads to disputes over who gets what, who can live where, and more.
Financially comfortable couples
However, couples with over $5 million in net worth tend to have more amiable divorces. This is likely due to the fact that money no longer matters to them. When couples with this amount of money do fight, they tend to fight over their position in the social hierarchy of the upper elite instead. They also tend to fight directly, rather than through a proxy.
Thus, having more assets does not necessarily mean bigger fights will ensue, though this can occur for some at a certain level of financial security.