Albany lawyer sees an increase in divorce requests during COVID-19 pandemic

ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) - Lawyers in Dougherty County are seeing a large number of divorce requests since families were asked to remain inside their homes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This is all according to Ripley Bell with the Law Offices of Ripley Bell.

Bell said in his 35 years as a lawyer, he has never seen anything like it before.

He said this is because of the shelter-in-place order by city and county leaders.

Bell said people see divorce as an option in stressful situations like natural disasters.

“I don’t think we saw this level during the floods or the hurricanes because that was a different type of stress. It has been surprisingly busy since the pandemic began. I would have thought it would have been a little quieter. Because of the stress of the pandemic and the worry of the financial security of the family and they are spending more time together probably than they ever have in the past,' Bell said.

Bell said they are expecting more divorce requests as the pandemic continues.

According to Bell, a divorce can take effect as quickly as 31 days, that is if both parties and their attorneys agree to the terms presented.

Otherwise, they will have to go before a judge at the Dougherty County Judicial Court, which is closed until May 17.

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