Number of divorces highest since 2009

The number of divorces in 2016 was the highest seen since 2009 with an increase of 5.8% from the previous year according to official figures just released.

Director, Rachel Buckley from The Family Law Company said: “The figures tell us there were 106,959 divorces within opposite-sex couples, and another 112 for same-sex couples.

“Although there is no clear steer on the reasons behind this, it could well be attributed to additional stress of households during an uncertain economic period and stagnating wages. It would be interesting to know what income brackets the majority of these divorces fall in.”

The figures clearly indicate that it was mainly women in their 30s and men in their later 40s who were petitioning for divorce.

“Not unusually, the majority of petitions came from women, although this was not extremely imbalanced with the figure at 61%,” Rachel said.

The Family Law Company handles a steady caseload of divorces as well as other family matters, using a more holistic approach where possible.

“While it is sad that so many marriages end in divorce, as a family law specialist we are committed to helping as many couples as possible to reach an amicable an arrangement using alternatives to court such as mediation where we can,” added Rachel.

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