Broken marriages affect virtually every family and every American. Every state should enact a divorce counseling law that requires married couples to undergo counseling before obtaining a separation or divorce. This policy could potentially save many viable marriages. The divorce rate in America is high, data has been collected by various organizations and some show that the divorce rate in America is as high as 50%. Data from most organizations reveals that this figure is very close to accurate. According to Jennifer Baker of the Forest Institute of Professional Psychology in Springfield, Missouri. 50% of first marriages, 67% of second marriages and 74% of third marriages end in divorce. (Baker) Divorce rates in recent decades have plummeted. Data reveals that compared to marriages in the 1990s, marriages today are lasting longer. Experts don't believe this is due to falling divorce rates, but rather because fewer couples are choosing marriage and preferring to live together. America ranks 6th in global divorce rate. Divorce is a traumatic experience for most couples and can leave emotional scars that last a lifetime. “We don't really talk about the public cost of divorce,” Mike McManus, co-chair of Marriage Savers and author of Marriage Savers: Helping. Your friends and family are avoiding divorce, said. He estimated that the public cost of a divorce due to Medicaid, food stamps, housing subsidies and other federal and state programs is $25,000 per divorce. (McManus) This means that in the state of Texas alone, divorces cost taxpayers approximately $1,922,500,000 in 2009. There were nearly 77,000 divorces in Texas in 2009, according to the United States Census Bureau. United. (Census). There are people who will unfortunately stay in the middle of a paper... which could potentially save the couple from making a mistake that they might regret later. If after counseling the couple is still unable to save their marriage, the skills learned by the couple from an individual perspective could improve the couples' behavior in the courtroom. It could also teach couples the communication skills they need to dissolve their marriage without a judge and agree to the terms of the divorce in mediation. It would also save taxpayers money. The required marriage counseling would also teach skills needed in any future relationship, potentially preventing the same people from entering the divorce courts a second or third time. Every state should enact a divorce counseling law that requires married couples to undergo counseling before obtaining a separation or divorce. This law could save many marriages and save taxpayers money.