Date 20 October 2008
Since 2005 the divorce rate in England and Wales has fallen; in 2007 there were only 11.9 divorces for every 1000 married people; this was the lowest rate of divorce since 1981.
There has been much speculation as to the reason for the fall. A recent article in The Times suggested that one of the principle reasons for the drop in the divorce rate was that marriage is no longer a social duty and that those that get married really mean it. Couples tend to live together first so understand each others faults before they marry, and have the maturity to work through any problems they may encounter.
Will the economic uncertainty and in particular the fall in house prices cause the divorce rate to fall further? Are people simply too strapped for cash to divorce? It is to early to say; but the statistics tend to suggest the opposite; that during a prolonged period of economic uncertainty divorce rates tend to rise significantly. Indeed the highest ever divorce rate in England and Wales of 14.2 per 1000 married people occurred in 1993 during the recession of the early 90’s.
It may well be then that we are about to see a rise once again in the divorce rates at a time of considerable economic uncertainty and a lack of confidence that has caused the housing market to come to a virtual standstill.
Aside from the arrangements for their children the main concern of divorcing couples is to ensure that their needs are met in terms of income and housing and that they get a fair share of the remaining matrimonial assets.
Where the main asset is the matrimonial home, it is likely to be difficult to sell in the present market. However it is normal for settlements to deal with what happens before and after the property is sold i.e. providing for how the proceeds of sale are to be divided and who is to be responsible for which of the costs associated with the matrimonial home until it is sold. It is also possible to defer sale.
Where there are insufficient matrimonial assets to meet the spouses needs the welfare of the children takes priority. The main concern of the courts is to ensure that the children and their primary carer are adequately housed and have sufficient income. Thus in cases where there has been a significant reduction in the value of the matrimonial assets it may be that the majority of the assets will have to be used to meet the needs of the children and their primary carer. This not surprisingly can be a major concern for the parent without care of the children and there are ways in which this can be addressed to ensure that overall fairness is achieved between the parties.
Where a settlement provides for maintenance to be paid by one spouse to another for their and/or their children’s benefit the level of such payments will depend on both spouses incomes. If those incomes subsequently change it is possible to go back to the court and apply for a upward or downward variation of the maintenance payable. Thus, if for example, one spouse loses their job during the divorce and is unable to fund employment the court will take this into account but it will be possible for maintenance payable under the settlement to be varied when that spouse subsequently obtains employment.
In the current economic climate it is wise to take legal advice before taking any steps along the road to divorce including deciding to delay. If you do not understand where you stand from a legal perspective it can be fairly easy to make poor decisions which may have significant financial consequences.
If you have any questions or require further information please contact Andrew Nellist on 01727 798000 or by email at andrew.nellist@salaw.com.
© SA LAW 2008
Every care is taken in the preparation of our articles. However, no responsibility can be accepted to any person who acts on the basis of information contained in them. You are recommended to obtain specific advice in respect of individual cases.