A partner may decide that there is no point of staying together [Photo: Courtesy]
It is said that love often wears out in the first few years of marriage, and that the glue that holds the two souls together after the first five years is tolerance. But the million-dollar question is what makes couples to drift apart after 20 years of putting up with ‘annoying in-laws’, infidelity, spendthrift nature, tantrums, insecurities and trust issues?
Rose Mbanya, a family advocate, believes that apart from the empty nest syndrome (when the children who were glueing the family together leave home), a partner may decide that there is no point of staying together. “Many things trigger divorce past the age of 35 years, but what is prevalent, in the cases I have handled, are financial issues, especially when the couple was used to a certain lifestyle and can no longer cope with changes.” She adds that, “There’s also the issue of familiarity, in which case you take each other for gra