Divorce-proof marriage By Leonie Wagner

The study also found that spending between $2 000 and $4 000 on an engagement ring is significantly associated with an increase in the risk of divorce. 

Offering expertise in this field are two US researchers who studied 3000 married couples in an attempt to predict the likelihood of divorce, looking at factors such as income, religious beliefs, the importance of attractiveness, the number of guests at the wedding and financial factors.

While some would argue the results should be taken with a pinch of salt, they may help those hoping to divorce-proof their marriage.

The research found that couples should date for three years before tying the knot ; that managing money is important, but don't place too much emphasis on it; have a big wedding, but make it cheap. Most importantly, don't skip the honeymoon.

The study also found that spending between $2 000 and $4 000 on an engagement ring is significantly associated with an increase in the risk of divorce.

But for local divorce attorneys the factors that lead to divorce are less superficial than the number of guests at the wedding.

Divorce attorney Bertus Preller said common reasons for divorce were a lack of communication, infidelity, abuse, sexual incompatibility and financial strain.

He said: "These days people get divorced much too quickly and easily. The danger is the first 10 years, that's when we see the biggest number of divorces. If you can make it through the first 10 your chances of staying together are better."

Johannesburg divorce attorney Roy Bregman said at least half of marriages ended in divorce and if a marriage could be divorce-proofed it would require maturity.

They both agreed January and February were "divorce season".

Bregman said: "Parties have spent money they don't have and have gone into credit-card debt. We've seen that financial stress is a major factor in divorce cases."

But it's not the only factor.

Cases the lawyers cited indicated a variety of reasons for divorce. These included:

• A woman found out on Facebook that her husband's regular business trips over a period of seven years were because he had another family in Thailand;
• A 74-year-old man filed for divorce because he was having an affair;
• A pastor's wife struggled to get out of her marriage because church members thought she was a bad wife for wanting a divorce; and
• A spouse asked if the marriage contract could include an anti-infidelity clause to prevent cheating.