Divorce rate expected to pick up as economy recovers

UNCERTAINTY over the economic recovery remains a factor as unhappy couples continue to delay divorce, according to a survey.

This is according to 80% of North West family lawyers polled in Grant Thornton’s 10th  annual matrimonial survey.
 
Almost half (47%) of North West solicitors who took part in the survey said that the economic environment was continuing to drive down the number of divorces. The same percentage said couples had cited financial worries as a contributory factor in the breakdown of their relationship.
 
The survey also found that people in their 40s are the most common age group to split up.

Louisa Plumb, an associate director within the forensic and investigation services team at at Grant Thornton in Manchester said: “The recession has had a way of making couples pragmatic – even those whose relationships have broken down.  It seems there were more people splitting-up but having to live under the same roof because the financial difficulties of going their separate ways were insurmountable.  

“Now the housing market is beginning to show signs of life and the general economic picture is less gloomy that may start to change, with a corresponding rise in the divorce rate.”
 
In the North West the couples’ main reason for seeking a divorce is an extra marital affair (28%), which is ahead of the national average figure (24%). Across the UK as a whole growing apart/falling out of love (29%) is the main reason cited for marital breakdown (26% in the North West).
 
Some 29% of the 45 divorce solicitors across the region cited the increased number of applicants acting for themselves due to lack of public funding as the biggest single issue facing family law, with a further 21% highlighting the removal of Legal Aid for most family law cases as a key issue.
 
The largest number of North West cases concerned marriages that had lasted between 11 and 20 years featured (55%) whilst the formal legal grounds used to achieve divorce remain overwhelmingly focused on unreasonable behaviour (95%).
 
In recent years there have been a number of cases with one of the parties’ attempting to mislead the proceedings by failing to provide full disclosure of assets. Only 13% of North West family lawyers said they had had no cases which revealed concealed/missing assets.

While concealment of assets seems likely to continue, the majority (93%) of those polled did not think it had increased from 2012.