Rapidly rising property prices and older-age marital break-ups mean the financial stakes are higher than ever for divorcing couples in South Wales, according to one of the region’s longest-established family law specialists.

Ceri Price, Partner and Head of Family Law at Harding Evans Solicitors, said the typical value of a divorce settlement handled by her 15-strong team had more than doubled in the past five years.



 

This reflects recent UK figures which show that the average divorcing couple now divides assets of more than £230,000. Miss Price said that, in many parts of South Wales, sums of over half a million were becoming commonplace.

In addition, the Office of National Statistics says the average age at which people now divorce has risen to 43 for men and 41 for women, meaning couples are likely to be better established and have higher assets than in years gone by.

But despite the huge increase in the amounts involved, Miss Price said large numbers of partners splitting up still carried major misconceptions about their legal rights.

For example, she said, many clients believe the size of a settlement is linked to their spouse’s behaviour leading to the breakdown, while many husbands believe their earnings from employment are regarded by the courts as a bigger contribution to the family than the wife’s care of the children and the home.

Her comments followed the launch of “FamilyFirst” the specialist family and matrimonial division of Harding Evans, one of South Wales largest firms of solicitors.

The new look marks the 21st anniversary of the creation of a family law department at the firm, making it one of the longest-established team of specialist divorce lawyers in South Wales.

The team has developed a particular reputation for successful handling of high value divorce settlements and the changes at the firm are intended to reinforce this with greater financial expertise as well as in other key areas such as the law relating to children.

Said Miss Price: “As a team we have entered a new era which reflects the huge changes taking place in the realms of relationship breakdown and financial settlement. That calls for even greater knowledge and skill on the part of family lawyers as well as greater sensitivity in handling clients, who are already going through a traumatic period in their lives.

She added: “The number of divorces may have gone down from a peak of 180,000 in 1993 to an expected 140,000 this year, but that masks the fact that more people are co-habiting so there are fewer official marriages. In our experience relationship breakdown affects more people today than ever and the law is increasingly complex.

“People are divorcing at an older age so their assets generally are greater, their homes tend to be worth a lot more these days and their pension arrangements more precarious. In addition the number of divorcees who have had previous marriages has risen from 10% to 20% in the past 25 years so more people need to unravel the complications of financial settlements with more than one former partner,” she explained.
Further changes on the horizon, she said, include a likely amendment of the law to extend to co-habiting couples some of the legal protection already enjoyed by married couples and civil partners. This will be a welcome development because there is a common misconception that the term “common law wife” gives women a legal entitlement to a share of the assets.

Said Miss Price: “FamilyFirst is being launched at a time of greater change in society and in the legal system than we have known in the 21 years our team has been in existence.”