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Don’t lose it all to a £28,000 divorce
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Divorce can be a strain on more than just your emotions, as Amy Winehouse is now discovering in her split from Blake Fielder-Civil. Find out how to protect your pocket should your passion perish
Winehouse will reportedly offer £2.5m to her husband as a divorce settlement, though it has also been claimed she intends to offer Fielder-Civil “zero” after covering the cost of his court cases and rehabilitation in the past.
Blake filed for divorce in January, following reports that his singer wife was romancing former rugby player Josh Bowman while holidaying in the Caribbean.
Now the knives are out, and it looks like Amy and Blake could be the latest celebrity couple to settle their differences with an expensive court case – and one that will cost a lot more than the average of £28,000.
Drop in divorce
Amy and Blake certainly aren’t alone, although the divorce rate is at its lowest for 26 years, with the number falling to 144,220 in 2007. This is 2.6% lower than the previous year, according to the Office of National Statistics (ONS).
Some good news, due in part to fewer people getting married, yet the economic turmoil of the past year – and the likelihood that a recession will have an impact on family finances – is actually seen as another reason for couples staying together. They simply can’t afford to split…
Divorce or the breakdown of a relationship are the principal reasons for one in three people to get into debt, according to insolvency practitioners NancollasGreer.
Even City bankers hit hard by the credit crunch are desperately attempting to renegotiate costly divorce settlements they can no longer afford, according to The Guardian.
But divorcing couples with more modest savings – and more normal incomes – will also suffer from the credit crunch.
While the added stress of tighter family finances or losing a job can lead to relationship problems, plummeting property values and share prices may have an impact even after you’ve decided to divorce.
by Martin Pegan, 12 February 2009
