Divorce rate rockets in the tropical paradise

All is not well in the “tropical paradise” lauded by the real estate industry with the divorce rate in Panama almost doubling in one year.

 It rose from 2,997 in 2008 to 5,674 in 2009.
The president of the Family Court of the Judicial Branch, Nelly Cedeño de Paredes, called on Panamanian families to seek the help of an impartial third person who can help couples make informed decisions about their conflicts prior to seeking the finality of a divorce.
The ultimate goal, she told La Prensa, is to avoid irreversible trauma to children.
The most common grounds for divorce, according to statistics from the Comptroller General of the Republic, is by mutual consent, in which both parties agree to end the family relationship.
An estimated 2,144 divorces on the grounds of mutual consent were recorded in 2008, compared to 2,027 in 2007, and 1,860 in 2006.
Meanwhile, when the grounds are contentious, where there is no agreement between the parties, the spouse that is innocent in the divorce proceedings is entitled to claim alimony, as long as he or she is not working.
The costs of a divorce are minuscule compared to the USA, Canada and other countries in the Group of Seven . In Panama the tab could run from from $300 to $2,000, depending on the grounds, as provided in the table of fees published by the National Bar Association.
La Prensa does not say if the renowned “Gringo price” applies to divorces, or if there is a potential market for divorce tourism alongside medical tourism.