There’s a popular statistic that claims 50% of marriages in the United States end in divorce. While this particular figure is overly pessimistic, there’s no denying that there are a lot of women in the dating pool who have been married in the past. While that doesn’t mean that these women are “damaged goods”, there are some things that men should be careful about when dating a divorced woman.

First and foremost, it’s a good idea to be honest with your intentions up front. If a woman was married, and she wants to be married again, then chances are good that they may be looking for more than casual dinner dates. If on the other hand a woman found marriage to be too confining, then perhaps she doesn’t want anything too serious too soon. If you’re up front with what you want and what you’re looking for, it will most likely encourage the same response from her and save a lot of grief.

Another thing that men who are dating divorced women should keep in mind is just what marriage can leave a person with. Many marriages end with houses, cars, and even raising children being divided. If you’re only going to be dating a divorced woman casually, then this may not be overly important – but if you’re contemplating getting serious, it’s best to know what she took away from her last marriage. This includes both financial responsibilities and emotional baggage.

It’s a strong possibility that, unlike other break ups, a divorced woman probably interacts with her ex on a semi-regular basis. This could be for dropping off kids, because they’re still friends (there was enough to get married, so one would assume there was a reason), or for a variety of other reasons. If you’re a jealous sort of guy, or if she’s not sure that she’s really over him despite the divorce, this could be a problem that you’ll need to solve before getting more serious about each other.

There are also a few assumptions about divorced women that men should learn to get over because they’re more of a stereotype than anything else. For one thing, divorced women aren’t necessarily high maintenance women, or poor naive victims. A marriage takes two people to work, and it takes two people not to work. Additionally, a woman doesn’t have to be middle aged to be divorced (many women get married very young and realize within a year or two that the marriage was a bad idea), nor does she fit into a certain socio-economic level. If you expect certain things from a divorced woman, then you might end up shooting yourself in the foot.

For the most part though, dating a divorced woman is just like dating any other woman. Be honest, up front, polite, and open minded. The story she tells might have different details than the ones other women will tell, but so what? If you try to fit people into a category, then chances are good that you’ll miss a lot of good things you wouldn’t have if you’d kept your eyes open.