The latest national statistics for UK divorce rates have astounded many with the only increase being in those aged over 60. This increase, referred to by many as ‘silver separations’ has sparked debate as to whether this increase is demonstrative of the social shift in attitudes towards divorce amongst the baby boom generation.
So what could be the reason for this boom in the statistics? Could it be that after 25 to 30 years couples find they no longer have the relationship they had thought? Are couples simply waiting until their children are independent before deciding to separate? Or is it that 60 is the new 40, with many seeking to live their lives to the full in retirement, with or without their other half?
Divorce in retirement can be incredibly daunting to the estranged spouse. It can lead to a feeling of extreme loneliness after having spent the majority of your life with someone. There is not only an enormous emotional void to fill – there may also be severe financial concerns. How will the marital assets be divided? What if one person is without a pension? How can the marital assets be protected for the children to avoid new partners reaping the benefits? What if your spouse has ill health?
These are all issues which will be considered during divorce proceedings. When considering an appropriate financial settlement the goal is always to achieve a fair settlement for each person that ensures that the needs of both spouses are met – and if possible, it is always best to do this in an amicable and cooperative way.
So why has there been a rise in silver separations? Please let us have your views.
If you have any questions about the impact of divorce after retirement, contact us.
Up until today, the legal assumption has been that when an unmarried couple own a property jointly, they each own an equal 50% share unless they declare otherwise in writing.
The Supreme Court has handed down a judgement today that overturns that assumption and could cause huge uncertainty among the thousands of unmarried couples in the UK who own property together, if they were to separate.
Our cohabitation specialist Wayne Lynn, explains the ruling and its implications for cohabiting couples:
In 1985 an unmarried couple – Mr Kernott and Miss Jones – bought a house in joint names. When their relationship broke down eight years later, Mr Kernott moved out of the house and Miss Jones continued to live there with their two children, paying the mortgage and bills by herself.
In 2006, Mr Kernott said that he wanted to claim an equal share of the equity in the jointly owned home, and Miss Jones launched an appeal against that claim.
The Supreme Court unanimously upheld Miss Jones’ appeal, and ruled that she holds a 90% share in the property, giving Mr Kernott a 10% share.
This case has massive implications for unmarried couples who separate after living together.
The Supreme Court is essentially moving a step closer to the approach taken to property ownership amongst married couples when they divorce, in order to achieve a fair outcome. What it means in practice is that if the court can infer through a couple’s actions that they intended to own their property anything other than equally, then if there is no evidence as to the shares in which they intended to hold it, it has the power to decide how property ownership should be divided according to what the court considers to be fair.
Whilst the Court’s willingness to achieve a fair outcome is to be welcomed, the majority of couples won’t ever consider whether their shares in a property could change if they separated from their partner. This could lead to unintended and unexpected consequences unless couples are clear as to how they intend to own their home, and could lead to further litigation as couples argue over who owns the home and in what shares. This makes it even more important for people intending to buy property together to seek legal advice.
To avoid losing their shares in a property further down the line, couples will need to discuss how they intend to share ownership from the start, and consider entering into a formal agreement to provide a more certain outcome if the relationship ever broke down.
If they don’t, they might be faced with an unexpected outcome that neither of them intended, which can lead to unnecessary heartache at what is already a very difficult time.
For most couples, a substantial lottery win is a dream come true. But what happens to those winnings if the couple separates?
Should they be shared? Should they be kept by the person who bought the winning ticket?
This thorny issue recently fell to Mr Justice Mostyn in the High Court to decide.
Continue reading…
According to a recently published report by the Office for National Statistics, there has been a marked decline in the marriage rate, accompanied by a significant rise in the number of couples who choose to live together without marrying.
The statistics also show that, 10 years after a couple began to live together, almost four in 10 couples have since separated, half have married and only one in 10 are still living together as a couple.
Yet how many people in unmarried, cohabiting relationships actually know their rights if their relationship breaks down?
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For many years the main cause of divorce in this country has been infidelity, but recent research shows this may no longer be the case. The research suggests that ‘falling out of love’ or ‘growing apart’ is the reason most separating couples now give for divorcing.
But just how accurate are the statistics? Do they really reflect the truth about relationship breakdown?
There are so many factors that could be at play here. To file for divorce in the UK you have to prove that the marriage has irretrievably broken down on one of five grounds: adultery, unreasonable behaviour, two years separation (provided both people agree to the divorce), desertion (of at least two years) or five years separation.
On that basis, couples keen to speed up the divorce process are forced to cite either adultery or unreasonable behaviour in order to move things forward. But what if the unfaithful spouse is not prepared to agree to the divorce on those grounds? Perhaps they’re not prepared to admit their affair?
The alleged affair could well be the reason for the marriage breakdown, but for the divorce to move forward, the person initiating it might have to rely on a claim of unreasonable behaviour to avoid the divorce being defended (and therefore costly for everyone involved).
This is certainly reflected in some of the high profile celebrity divorce cases that hit the headlines. Cheryl Cole was reported to have issued a so called ‘quickie divorce’ petition citing her husband’s ‘unreasonable behaviour’, when in fact a series of affairs was widely known and reported.
So it could be that whilst an affair is the real cause of marriage breakdown, people give other reasons in order to speed the divorce process up or avoid a costly court battle.
Or perhaps it’s true, and unhappy couples who ‘fall out of love’ no longer feel compelled to stay together because they are married or for the sake of the children and they’re not afraid to say it.
And don’t forget that this is all set against a backdrop of falling divorce rates across the board. The recession has certainly had a part to play in that, and there’s a lot of anecdotal evidence to suggest that falling house prices have forced families to stay together for financial reasons, or that the fear of redundancy is keeping unhappy couples together for financial stability, rather than taking the risk to go it alone.
As always, things are never as straightforward as they might at first seem. So what do you think? What are the real causes of marriage breakdown in the UK?
Couples across the state of New York were celebrating earlier this summer when legislation legalising same sex marriages was passed.
Thousands of New Yorkers quickly tied the knot, but their celebrations might have been dampened with the knowledge that despite the new legislation, married gay and lesbian couples still don’t have the same rights as married heterosexual couples.
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Almost 114,000 divorces were registered in England and Wales in 2009. That means thousands of children are living with the stress and strain of divorce, and the impact this can have on their emotional and, sometimes, physical wellbeing is well documented.
The general consensus is that the existing family justice system is not helping families in the way that it should, and the government is reviewing the system to see where improvements can be made.
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A Supreme Court judgement later this month could drastically change the property rights of unmarried couples who live together.
The Kernott v Jones case sees a woman seeking a larger share of a jointly owned property several years after her separation from her partner. The outcome could cause huge uncertainty among unmarried couples who jointly own property if they split up. Continue reading…
Celebrity parents, Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony, announced their plans to divorce this week after a seven-year marriage.
Reports suggest that the couple’s three-year old twins, Max and Emme, will live with their mother after the separation and have ‘as much contact as possible’ with their father.
Caring for children is one of the many tough decisions that couples have to make when they separate, at a time when they are likely to be in turmoil following an emotional marital breakdown.
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The SLEEP 2011 conference held in the US has uncovered a significant link between sleep, or lack of it, and relationship tensions.
It has been revealed that a poor night’s sleep can impact upon relationships and the breakdown of marriages. Both men and women are more likely to argue with each other after restless nights, which, if sustained, may lead to fundamental problems within marriages that could lead to relationship breakdown if something is not done to resolve the issue.
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