Galveston County divorce cases climb as COVID-19 drags on

Kindel Jenkins can remember a conversation near the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic with attorneys at the League City law office where she works. What would they do if there wasn’t enough work to go around? How would they afford to keep everyone employed?

Jenkins’ fears never came to pass. Rather, the family law attorney has more than twice the usual number of new clients and more business than ever. Pandemic-induced anxiety, financial fears and living in constant close quarters with spouses, it seems, made it impossible to sweep aside or ignore festering marital problems.

Many attorneys and legal experts across Galveston County who deal with family law are seeing the same thing, they said. After a brief decline in work at the beginning of coronavirus-related shutdowns, more and more married couples are seeking legal opinions and filing for divorce, they said.

“I think the pandemic is part of it,” said Leslie Burgoyne, managing attorney at Lone Star Legal Aid’s Galveston office. “COVID is giving parents excuses to be ugly to each other. Tensions are high.”

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