Indeed, 39% of divorce attorneys recently surveyed said they have seen an increase in modifications to child support payments, according to the AAML. And 42% of the members report a rise in alimony payment modifications.
Winters says she's struggling to settle a case in New Jersey where the husband earned $1 million for two years in a row, but now will be lucky if he makes $200,000. His wife continues to insist on child support and alimony based on the $1 million salary-a demand the husband argues he is unable to comply with.
"I don't blame the spouses for wanting support that will maintain the lifestyle they had, but the reality is, they wouldn't have been able to maintain that lifestyle if their husband had stayed," Winters says.
Pamela Spence Murray, a New York City-based financial planner who helps negotiate divorce settlements, has seen a similar phenomenon.
"Before, if a couple was married for 30 years, and the guy made close to $1 million for seven years, and he deliberately takes a job for $125,000 a year and says he couldn't find anything better, the courts said 'tough,'" Murray says. "I think when someone now says 'I can only make this much,' they're going to get a much better calculation."
Murray, an advisor since 1980, has specialized in divorce planning the last ten years. Business has been booming since January, she says. Compared to last year, her inquiries and referrals have doubled.
While some of her wealthy clients have initiated divorces because of lower asset values, others are motivated by different factors, she says.
"Some people have lost so much, they're like, 'Screw it. I'm tired of this. I don't want to do this anymore. Let's get divorced.' It's a tipping point," she says.
Then there are the troubled marriages that have been pushed to the brink by the stress that finances have put on the relationship, Murray says.
"These are people who were getting Wall Street bonuses. They never had to have budgets before," she says. "Some of them are out of work now."