The Challenges and Difficulties When Getting Married Young can Lead to Divorce

Young couples who decide to tie the knot are always very excited about what life has in store for them. They may hear warnings from family members about getting married at 18 or 19, but they take that step anyway because it just feels right at the time. 

Those warnings usually come for a very good reason, though. Getting married so young leads to many challenges and increases the odds of divorce. 

One potential issue is that the financial side of getting married so young can be difficult. If you’re 18, you may never have made a budget, paid the rent, lived outside of your parents’ home or had to worry about income and expenses. Trying to figure that all out together can put a lot of stress on the relationship, especially if you feel like your spouse is making financial mistakes. 

Another issue is that you may grow apart over time. The person you are at 18 is not the same person you’ll be in your mid-20s, when brain development truly stops, or in your 30s when you have some more life experience. What if one or both of you change so significantly that you can no longer understand why you’re married? That does not necessarily mean that you made a mistake at the time that you got married, but you are simply not those same people any longer a few years after that marriage. 

If you got married at a young age and now you’re thinking about divorce, you are not alone. This is common and there are legal steps you can take to make it all go smoothly. Be sure you know what they are.