Fewer S. Florida couples divorcing
BY TAYLOR BARNES
As the national economy takes a downturn and homes become harder to sell, another measure of American life is on the decline in South Florida.
In Miami-Dade County, almost 1,300 fewer divorces were filed from January through May this year than in the same time period in 2007, a decrease of about 18 percent, according to Zoila Miranda, the court operations officer in charge of family filings.
The drop comes after five years in which the number of divorces each year was relatively constant. Filings for divorce ranged from 15,622 to 16,868 in the years from 2003 to 2007. From January through May 2008, 5,956 dissolutions were filed in Dade.
In Broward County, the trend is similar, though the decrease is smaller. Clerks saw 390 fewer divorces filed from January to May, about 9 percent below last year's count. Total divorces in recent years were less consistent than in Dade, rising from 2005 to 2006 and then dropping in 2007, according to data from Kris Mazzeo, chief director of court services in Broward.
Robert Jones, a Miami-Dade magistrate, said he has noticed the ''recent phenomenon'' of the down-tick in divorces. ''It looks like we are seeing a trend of . . . more paternity cases being filed and fewer dissolution of marriages,'' he said.
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