Blogs/Articles

A number of different research projects have recently been conducted into factors that can affect the success of a relationship and influence the risk of divorce.

Single parent charity Gingerbread and domestic violence charity Women’s Aid are calling for changes to the Child Maintenance Service to help protect victims of domestic violence.

Celebrity relationships frequently attract a great deal of media attention, with much rumour and speculation over whether these relationships are happy or whether they appear to be heading to the divorce court.

The summer holidays can be a stressful time for families, putting additional strain on relationships that might already be troubled.

According to a recent study from the US, financial factors such as a wife’s ability to support herself are not necessarily predictive of divorce. Instead, it is couples’ division of labour that is associated with the risk of divorce.    

The Department of Work and Pensions has recently launched a consultation exercise over plans to implement existing powers to make deduction orders to recover child maintenance arrears from joint bank accounts held by a non-resident parent.

A former model, who was seeking £196 million as a divorce settlement from her ex-husband, has been awarded £53 million by the High Court in London, reports the BBC. When her own assets are added they bring the total settlement amount to around £75 million.

A new approach to tackling domestic violence is undergoing trials in England. The new scheme, ‘Change that Lasts’, is currently being piloted in Northumbria, Nottinghamshire and Surrey to help women experiencing domestic abuse receive support earlier, and help them to achieve long-term recovery and independence.

A number of interesting divorce stories have been reported in the media recently.

The lives of celebrities, and in particular their marriages and divorces, are a popular source of news stories for many media outlets, and any report of an imminent wedding or relationship split is often accompanied by speculation over whether or not the couple had signed a prenuptial agreement.

As many as 2.87 million people across the UK are living in relationships which would be described within clinical practice as distressed, according a new study by relationship charity Relate. This amounts to 18% of married or cohabiting couples and 1.4 million UK families.

The proportion of people who believe couples shouldn’t have to get married before having children (35%) is, for the first time, almost the same as the proportion who believe marriage should come first (37%), according to new analysis of NatCen’s British Social Attitudes survey.

The latest statistics on divorce from the Office for National Statistics revealed that despite an overall drop in the number of divorces, the numbers divorcing in the over-50 age group have actually risen over the past decade.

Although there has been more emphasis put on ex-spouses to provide for themselves financially following a divorce, a recent study has found that settlements made by the family courts in England and Wales are one of the most generous in the world.

A divorce judge has granted a woman who quit her career to care for her children the vast majority of the family fortune. Jane Morris left her career as a recruitment consultant so that her husband could continue his high-flying career for over 20 years.

A divorce expert has warned of the dangers that can arise from using social media when going through a divorce. A representative of Consensus Collaboration has stated that social media posts could affect both the financial and emotional outcome of a separation.

In a case which outlines the importance getting legal advice when going through a divorce, a woman who cohabited with her partner for more than 18 years has won a legal battle with his estranged wife for a share in his home.

Experts have called for MPs to back the No Fault Divorce Bill when it receives its second reading in March. Attitudes to marriage in the UK has changed significantly with almost 50% of all divorces ending in divorce.

Although some have claimed that the start of January, or the third Monday in January is the busiest day for law firms regarding divorce, the family charity, Resolution, has stated that they have little evidence to support such a statement.

The first working day of January is often dubbed as D-day by the media because it is one of the busiest days for divorce lawyers due to a large number of divorce enquiries.