According to another report in the Daily Mail, financial pages this time, based on release of figures from the Office of National statistics more than 320 married couples split up each day and collectively would have spent £154 million on legal costs in relation to divorce. This is a slight increase on the previous year and amounts to average £1,300 each.
The Times report made the point that after ten years of decline in the divorce rate the 118,140 divorces in 2012 was 0.5% more than the previous year. They also reported a suggestion that this showed signs of economic recovery as couples in unhappy marriages waited for property prices to rise before separating.
Another feature emerging from the figures was that older couples were more likely to divorce.
Costs can be controlled by engaging in mediation where legal aid is still available, a message the Government seems to be failing to get across. Even if you are not eligible for legal aid the average cost for resolving all issues through mediation is half the average figure quoted in the Daily Mail report for going through solicitors.
So, whatever your age or financial circumstances it is worth considering mediation as a way of resolving what is going to happen on or after separation. With both parties sitting down together with a trained family mediator and working together you can cover a lot more ground in an hour than you can each consulting your own solicitor for an hour then exchanging letters at whatever cost plus 20% vat.
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