The law firm handling Rev. Anita Oyakhilome’s divorce proceeding in the UK, Attwaters Jameson Hill has revealed the cost of any couple divorcing in Britain. Though not stated as a basis for the Oyakhilomes proceedings, the blog post revealed that, “During the summer , Aviva released a Family Finance reports, which outlines the cost of divorce in the UK. The statistics are interesting and outline why you should use an expert lawyer.
The Office of National Statistics show that there are around 128,000 divorces or dissolutions annually. Divorced, widowed or separated families now make up 7% of UK families.
“UK couples are spending more than £44,000 on average when they divorce or separate – this is a total of £5.7 billion per year across the nation. The hidden cost of divorce is £21,979 per person, or £43,959 per couple. This is an increase of 57% since the last findings in 2006 when the cost of divorce was around £28,000. Legal fees for divorce have actually fallen, from £1,818 to £1,280 with many opting for cheaper online services. As well as the costs associated with a break-up, four out of ten newly-separated people splash out on items to treat themselves such as holidays, new technology and gadgets.
“Four in ten were financially worse off following their separation and more than half took longer than six months to settle financial matters – the typical time sort out the financial affairs was almost a year (11.5 months). A third of couples tried to reach an amicable agreement to save on legal fees, one in ten separated but continued living together for several months as they couldn’t afford to live apart immediately and 6% of couples put off getting a divorce because of the costs involved.”