Kevin Costner and Kim Kardashian’s divorce lawyer reveals the commonest cause marriages break down
As one of the highest-profile divorce lawyers in Los Angeles, Laura Wasser has represented some of the biggest celebrities in Hollywood.
Her client lists includes Britney Spears when she split from Kevin Federline, Angelina Jolie during her long and bitter divorce from Brad Pitt; Johnny Depp‘s equally torturous separation from Amber Heard, and Kim Kardashian when her third marriage to Kanye West ended.
She also represented Kevin Costner in court during his contentious legal battle with ex-wife Christine Baumgartner.
Wasser, whose experience in dissolving marriages has earned her the nickname ‘disso queen’, appeared on a recent episode of Susan Yara’s podcast, My Life Online, to share some expert insights into divorce – and the key reasons why marriages fail.
The biggest reason why couples get divorced
This shouldn’t come as a surprise, but the most common reason why couples get divorced is communication – and more specifically the lack thereof. ‘A failure to communicate is going to be the biggest problem,’ says Wasser.
‘I think people get married, and in the 1920s and 30s it used to be “till death do us part” but people died a lot earlier [then].
‘Now, people are constantly evolving and sometimes they evolve in different directions. If you’re able to communicate and participate in some kind of couples’ counselling, even before you get married, and get the tools that you need to deal with things when they may not be so great, I think that’s huge.’
Whether you’re having financial issues, parenting issues or work issues, Wasser believes that if you’re able to figure out a way to communicate with your partner about those things, you will generally be able to talk your way through it and be okay.
Laura Wasser has represented some of the biggest celebrities in Hollywood
It is, however, essential that both parties communicate. She also says it’s helpful to have a neutral, third party involved, whether it’s a counsellor, therapist, or even a mediator.
‘People have been able to talk things through with a third person in the room that has an objective opinion about things, and they’ve gone, “oh, well, maybe we can actually work this out.”’
‘I’ve had people get back together. Not often, but I would say in like 30 years it’s maybe happened like 10 or 11 times,’ she reveals.
‘I’ve gone through the entire divorce, written up a judgement, and a couple of weeks later they’re like, “you’re not going to believe this. We went out for a celebratory dinner, ended up having sex and now we’re back together.”’
‘I’m not a therapist. I don’t get involved,’ Wasser laughs.
The major concerns couples have when going through a divorce
During the podcast episode, Wasser also touched on the two major concerns couples have when going through a divorce. ‘Custody is always the first,’ she says. ‘If you have kids, that’s always going to be the first thing that you’re concerned about: sharing custody.’
Then, of course, there are the finances. Wasser explains there are four corners of a divorce: what you have (your assets), what you owe (your debts), what you spend (your expenses) and what earn (your income).
‘We have people kind of map those out, and then you start talking about if we’re going to sell the house, or if one of us is going to live in the house, and what will the proceeds be if we sell it and how do we split that, and what the budget is going to be in terms of child support or spousal support.’
According to Wasser, a lot of women either aren’t particularly interested in, or privy to, the financial information throughout their marriage. For those, a divorce is a great opportunity to learn all about it and be the master of their own destiny in terms of how much they have, what they invest, what they spend and how they budget.
