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“Quiet quitting” in a marriage

On Behalf of | Feb 27, 2024 | Divorce

Problems in a marriage could take many forms. Married couples might see their relationship deteriorate as the partners drift apart or otherwise discover the relationship becoming conflicted. However, it would not be accurate to assume that all spouses who file for divorce in a Maryland family law court have a divisive, volatile relationship. Sometimes, the marriage slowly breaks down when one or both partners engage in what is called “quiet quitting”.

Quiet quitting and marriage

Quiet quitting is a term that often refers to disgruntled employees who do the bare minimum in their jobs instead of leaving their employer. The term now applies to certain marriages where one or both spouses maintain a relationship on a minimal level. Communication and intimacy may decrease between them, and there could be a desire to be single again. However, no steps towards dissolving the marriage occur. Instead, the marriage becomes a legal union and little more.

Couples may accept the quiet quitting arrangement if they consider divorce less preferable. The spouses could remain together and maintain a household while avoiding conflicts and arguments.

Heading to divorce

For some, quiet quitting is not acceptable behavior. A spouse might consider the other’s quiet quitting behavior to be a form of passive-aggressive anger equivalent to mental cruelty. Spouses who feel neglected and mistreated could file for divorce in family law court statutes because the marriage has broken down.

Serious problems could arise when spouses opt to quit quietly. For example, managing joint finances or engaging in retirement planning might become excessively difficult. Irreconcilable differences might manifest, leading one or both spouses to seriously consider divorce.

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