Household Debt Causes Marital Problems as More Marriages End in Divorce

Feb. 4, 2013 - PRLog -- New statistics released on 28th January 2013, by the UK National Statistics Office have revealed that household debt impacts married and cohabiting couples the hardest during the financial turmoil of divorce and separation. In 2008 to 2011, 59.8% of cohabiting and married couples had the highest median of financial liabilities.

The new stats coincide with an increasing trend of couples citing money and financial problems as a cause for the breakdown of the relationship.  This trend is confirmed by Reeds Solicitors own statistics for 2012.  Household debt has been defined as unpaid credit card and store cards bills, bank overdrafts and all fixed term loans.  The combined financial debt of households in the UK stands at £94.7 billion.

Debra Stevens has launched a new and innovative concept to help married and separating couples under financial strain deal with separation and divorce.  How2divorce is a quick and easy 3-step plan that combines ‘How2divorce:The Handbook’ with an interactive website, providing a tool kit of accessible and simple to understand legal information,.  It also acts as a guiding hand through the minefield of divorce and separation.  How2divorce uses social media tools such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter together with the innovative autofill “Smartforms”.

Debra Stevens, leading family lawyer at Reeds Solicitors, mediator and founder of How2divorce states: “For those in debt it is becoming more common that they stay together because they cannot afford to separate, as servicing the debt is so high that neither can afford to live independently. This can often lead to bankruptcy for one party.   It also puts severe pressure on the family particularly the children if a couple stay together for monetary reasons.

The new concept called How2divorce, responds not only to the recent rapid increase in household debt but to the impending withdrawal of public funding by the government from April 1 this year for all areas of legal advice and assistance which includes family law and debt advice; making an already difficult situation impossible to deal with for the average separating couple.  

Married and unmarried couples can now successfully divorce and separate without the risk of the ‘divorce debt’.  How2divorce offers couples the option to find a new means to divorce and separate easily without the additional financial burden added on to their current household debt.

The adoption of the How2divorce 3-step plan will ensure that there is a better financial outcome for both parties involved. The campaign also provides additional information on mediation, which if applied can cut the implicative cost of divorce by 85%.

“How2Divorce provides couples with a new lease of life, which once was taken away by household debt,” continues Debra Stevens. “Money problems lead continual arguments and an unhappy household leads to divorce or separation.  But the pressure and realisation of attempting to deal with both household debt and divorce debt is a deterrent for any individual to proceed with separation or divorce”

“How2divorce not only empowers separating couples but also enriches couples understanding of the laws and rights prior to, throughout and post-divorce proceedings.  

“I have seen couples struggle to pay expensive legal fees they could not afford for the last 17 years and it has become increasingly apparent that this situation cannot be sustained.  There is a clear need, compounded by the forthcoming withdrawal of Legal Aid in April this year that an alternative had to found.”

For more information about the How2Divorce can be obtained at www.how2divorce.co.uk