Financial pressures force couples to delay divorce

Thousands of estranged couples are putting off divorcing because of money worries. 

According to Legal & General, 280,000 divorces over the last five years - almost one in five - were postponed due to financial pressures. 

Among the worries raised by couples were income concerns (13%), the rising cost of living (12%) and the cost of divorce (12%). 

In fact, the cost of divorce is such an issue that one in seven people will go into debt to pay for it. 

Another issue for couples who are splitting up is that many are unhappy with the final outcomes. 

For example, figures showed that two-fifths of divorcees feel that one party was favoured financially in their divorce. 

Furthermore, people who have got divorced often end up feeling they’re in a worse financial position after splitting up. 

Paula Llewellyn, chief customer and strategy officer at Legal & General Retail, said it’s understandable that the “emotional side of separation” is a priority during a divorce. 

However, she stated that money is also “an important factor that shouldn’t be ignored”. 

“Not only are people having to stay in marriages longer, because of their finances, but they are also facing increased struggles once they go it alone,” Ms Llewellyn commented. 

“A divorce is as much a dissolution of a legal contract as it is the end of a relationship.” 

Untangling assets can be incredibly complicated for divorcing couples. 

So it’s perhaps no surprise that many are making mistakes that leave them in a worse financial position. 

For example, the Legal & General study found that while 50% of divorcing couples often consider the value of their family home when splitting up, only 13% think about pensions. 

Meanwhile, less than one in three people who have divorced have signed Clean Break Orders. 
 
That means more than two-thirds could potentially face financial claims from their ex further down the line. 

Many people were also found to have not removed their ex from legal and financial documents after splitting up. 

For instance, figures showed that one in ten divorcees have either put off or forgotten to remove their ex from their will. 

In addition, a similar proportion hadn’t taken their former spouse off their life insurance, or still had them named as the beneficiary to their pension. 

That means many divorced people could be leaving themselves exposed to inheritance and legal disputes in the future.