Divorce numbers spike in CNY, Tully Rinckey analysis finds

SYRACUSE — Amid improving economic conditions and following the passage of New York’s no-fault divorce law, the number of Central New York couples getting divorced hit a nine-year high in 2011, according to an analysis of new statistics from the state Department of Health by the law firm Tully Rinckey PLLC.

In 2011, the latest year for which data is available, 2,556 divorces were finalized in the five-county region encompassing Cayuga, Cortland, Madison, Onondaga, and Oswego counties. That’s up 12.2 percent from 2,278 divorces in 2010 and is the highest number of area divorces since 2002, when 2,586 divorces were finalized, according to the Health Department data.

Cortland, Oswego, and Onondaga counties all posted double-digit increases in divorces in 2011, with divorces rising by 20.6 percent, 16.4 percent, and 13.5 percent, respectively, according to the data. For the state as a whole, the number of divorces rose 1.6 percent in 2011 to 56,717.

The new Health Department data reflects the first full year that New York has allowed spouses to divorce under the legal grounds of irretrievable breakdown of the marriage, also known as a “no-fault” divorce, according to Tully Rinckey, which is based in Albany and has a local office at 500 Plum St. in Syracuse. The state’s no-fault divorce law took effect on Oct. 12, 2010, meaning spouses no longer had to rely on legal grounds such as cruelty or abandonment to end their marriage, the law firm said.

“There was a lot of pent up demand for no-fault divorce in New York State, and these statistics are a reflection of that,” Brianne M. Carbonaro, an associate in Tully Rinckey’s Syracuse office, said in a news release. She practices family and matrimonial law. “Many New Yorkers like the fact that they no longer have to air their ‘dirty laundry’ to end an unhappy marriage.”

In Onondaga County, the number of divorces on the grounds of cruelty declined by 40 percent to 354 in 2011 from 587 in 2010. In the same period, divorces on the grounds of abandonment also fell by 44 percent to 258 from 464.

Economic conditions also played a role in the changing divorce numbers.

During the recent recession, the number of divorces in the five-county Central New York area reached a low of 1,999 in 2009, before rebounding in the following two years.

Some research studies since the recession have shown a link between economic conditions and divorce filings. A University of Virginia study in 2011 found that 38 percent of married couples surveyed who had been contemplating divorce or separation before the recession started said the economic downturn prompted them to hold off on dissolving their union.

In addition to Albany and Syracuse, Tully Rinckey has offices in Buffalo, Washington, DC, and Arlington, Va.