While the current credit crunch has caused many industries to constrict, fewer couples filing for divorce, has provided another unexpected drop. Is it just that the financial crisis has made it a lot harder for couples to sell jointly owned homes, plus the greater increased difficulty of being able to finance two separate establishments?
In a recent survey Grant Thornton's showed that almost half of all the matrimonial lawyers surveyed, the number of divorces has decreased. Partner at Grant Thornton's Forensic and Investigation Services Robert Kerr, said, "The reasons for the drop vary but certainly the financial carve-up that follows divorce settlements will be at the forefront of a couple's minds when contemplating divorce".
Gary Nickelson, President of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, (AAML) says, "For many spouses, the divorce process involves a great deal of long-term planning and waiting for better economic terms is often just another element of the overall process. A sudden drop in the net worth can effectively postpone the final decision from being made".
The Office for National Statistics in Britain stated earlier this year that the number of divorces had dropped from 12.2 per 1000 couples in 2006, to 11.9 in 2007. This is a 26 year low. AAML reported an overall 27% decrease in the number of divorces.
A continuous decrease in divorces over the past seven years has reported in Australia. The rate of divorce is 23.6 percent lower than it was in 1986.
Julian Lipson, a British lawyer says, "The rate of marriage has dropped and therefore the rate of divorce has also dropped".
Other authorities state the lower divorce rates are simply a reflection of forty years of increased government spending in the areas that show the effects of broken homes, thus creating a cultural change in attitudes towards marriage.
Is the world heading for longer-lasting marriages, are couples prepared to work together more, or is or is it simply that financial considerations are the cause of the trend?
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