A really great article by Kathi Tesone makes you think:

“In the future marriage vows could possibility include an additional phrase to go with the existing promises? Something like: "Do you take your partner, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; for the period you have chosen with an option to renew?"

Remember the idea of the Seven Year Itch? 

Now it’s the 20-30 year itch . . . with the average life expectancy in the USA in 2012 rising to 78.8 years, a record high, more and more couples are finding themselves no longer happy and do not want to spend the remainder of their years in an unsatisfying, unhappy marriage – after 20 to 30 year marriages.

The U.S. divorce rate, despite remaining flat overall, has doubled for people 50 and older in the past two decades, according to a study by the National Center for Family & Marriage Research at Bowling Green State University.

Today, couples are not doing what previous generations did -- just stay married because that is what you were supposed to do. Couples are not willing to wait it out till death do them part. There seems to be a movement to reinvent divorce. This is not to say there are no hurt feelings, but a willingness to agree that the marriage is over. Couples are choosing their own way of "consciously uncoupling,” following the example of Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin’s divorce. Their marriage ended mutually in a somewhat kinder and gentler manner. It is a modern take on divorce, with a twist.

Texas allows you to fill out approved blank forms that you can use to file your own divorce.  An attorney review is highly recommended.

If there is a disagreement, and a mediator is needed to resolve outstanding issue, Wevorce is a mediated approach to Divorce where one lawyer represents both parties to reach agreement.

This allows the couple to remain in control throughout the ordeal, without expensive lawyers and court time to hash it out.  Serious financial savings.

By Jac Schuster, an Estate Planning and Probate attorney in McKinney and Wevorce Associate. Learn more at jacschuster.com.