Wives think twice as divorce pay shrinks

WOMEN are backing out of divorce cases because settlements are becoming less generous, experts have said.

Fewer wives are being awarded income for life and they are increasingly having their divorce settlement limited to a few years. This is making some of them back off from going through with a split, law firms say.

In a landmark case in 2014, the High Court ruled that judges should prioritise a “transition to independence”, even if this involved “a degree of (not undue) hardship”.

Figures from the Ministry of Justice last year show that orders for ongoing payments had fallen by five per cent since 2011, while lump sum orders had risen by 10 per cent over the same period.

Hall Brown, the Manchester law firm, handled 380 divorce cases over the past year, 30 of which were later shelved. James Brown, managing partner, said many couples “may have little genuine insight into their true financial circumstances and might have second thoughts when told about the settlement which they may receive”.

Last month divorcee Kim Waggott lost out on a lifetime of annual maintenance payments after going back to court to challenge her 2012 settlement, which provided her with £175,000 a year, on top of a £9.76million lump sum. But the judge ruled that her maintenance payments should stop after three years.

Toby Hales, partner at Seddons, said it was “very rare now to see a maintenance order now that is to be paid for the rest of one’s life”.