Divorce 'leads Brits into debt'
Published On 13 December 2006
Britain spent a total of £4.3 billion on divorce this year and £2.5 billion of this came from personal savings, research from Norwich Union has found.The Cost of Divorce survey also reveals that couples spend an average of £28,000 when a marriage ends – double what was spent three years ago.
Almost half are spiraling into debt when their marriage breaks down, with 48 per cent dipping an average of £8,000 into their personal savings and 40 per cent saying their divorce had a significant impact on their disposable income.
"Divorce is always a difficult time for families and can often be a long, drawn out process taking 12 months or longer to resolve," said Simon Quick of Norwich Union, adding that it often increased "pressure on the family wallet".
Paul Westcott of divorce law firm Last Cawthra Feather noted changes in divorce law and high-profile cases which have encouraged couples to record "what each partner brought to the marriage at the outset".
"We have seen a surge of interest in pre-nuptial agreements in recent months, and the outcome of the McCartney divorce could see them become the norm rather than only for the cynical," he added.
The latest figures from charity Credit Action show that Britain was £1.25 trillion in debt at the end of October 2006.
