The ‘credit crunch’ is one of the hot topics at the moment, with the falling house prices and shops facing reduced sales. However this has also effected the divorce market, which up until now had been the one industry that hadn’t slowed due to financial changes within the world.

Now though couples are even being forced to, and it pains me to say this, stay together. This is because they cannot afford to sell their houses to split the money between them, nor can either one find a lending company willing to grant them a remortgage in order to pay the other off.

Marilyn Stowe is from Stowe Family Law stated:

For most people, this is a very difficult time because, with their main asset essentially being significantly depleted, the value has gone down, it means then that there is less money available to rehouse both parties. It’s taking longer to sell the house, and it’s increasing pressure on the parties who are still having to live together in the same house because they can’t afford to live separately.

For those people, it makes a bad situation even worse.

Finances seem to be driving people to fight divorce because they believe they will not be able to afford it, so are trying to stay together even though the relationship is over.

She claims that the current climate is in fact ideal to get divorced:

For them, this is a good time to get divorced because they’re worth far less now than they were six to 12 months ago, which means the pay-out to their partner is far less than it would have been.

This credit crunch has had different affects on people going through divorce.

My advice would be to try and buy your partner out if at all possible. Selling your property now would be financial suicide, whereas you could buy out your ex on a discounted rate (as I did) and then you’ll win in the long run.

Clive Bellmore