Bitterest end... cost of divorce soars to £70,000

DIVORCING couples pay more than £70,000 to sort out the cost of a split.

The average bill for a settlement has hit £70,243 and the waiting time before disputes are rubber-stamped is 11 months.

After that, divorcees become even poorer as they lose cars, houses, pensions and savings in the break-up, lawyers have warned.

Toby Hales, a specialist at Seddons law firm, said: “Getting divorced is relatively straightforward but reaching a financial settlement can be harder.

“When they disagree, they can find the courts are clogged, causing further distress and a crippling drain on their finances.”

Just six per cent of wealthy couples say divorce puts finances at risk, according to research.

Economic uncertainty, low interest rates and ill health or an accident are seen as greater threats.

But when the same question is put to divorcees, more than twice as many class divorce as one of the biggest threats to wealth.

Daunting

Samantha Boyd, of Rathbone Investment Management, said: “Divorce is hugely destabilising and causes great upheaval.

“Sorting out the finances can be a daunting prospect.”

Yet divorce rates have plunged to their lowest level in 40 years.

Figures show there were 111,169 divorces in England and Wales in 2014 – a fall of 3.1 per cent compared with 2013 and a decline of more than a quarter from a peak in 2003.

The divorce rate fell to 9.3 per 1,000 married men and women – the lowest level for both sexes since 1974.

Nicola Haines, of the Office for National Statistics, said: “Compared with 2004, divorce rates in 2014 were lower for all age groups except women aged 55 and over.

“The likely factors include increased cohabiting and increasing age at first marriage.

“Previous research indicates a higher risk of divorce among those marrying at younger ages, while Homes and pensions can go in divorce cohabitation may be reducing the number of weaker relationships progressing to marriage.”

There was a rise in divorce rates between the 1960s and early 1990s, amid changes in attitudes to divorce.

The Divorce Reform Act 1969 came into effect in 1971, making it easier for couples to split.

The average age at divorce has increased every year between 1985 and 2014, rising by more than eight years to 45.6 for men and 43.1 for women.

Clare Wiseman, a specialist family and divorce lawyer at Irwin Mitchell, said: “People are recognising that they don’t have to stay in unhappy relationships and the number of dating websites and groups that are aimed at older people show that it is possible to build new relationships no matter what age you divorce.”

Harry Benson of the Marriage Foundation said: “Today’s newly-weds are setting a shining example to their peers.

“Divorce rates in the early years of marriage have halved from their peak in the 1990s. Those who get married are far more likely to stay together than those who don’t.

“The reason is simple. Getting married shows both partners have bought into the same plan for a life shared.”