23/02/2023
How many marriages end in divorce?
The latest divorce statistics show that 103,592 couples divorced in 2020. Interestingly, this was a 4% decrease on the previous year. Of these, 102,438 were opposite s*x couples and 1,154 were same s*x couples - an increase of around 40% compared to 2019.
Court fees
Court fees will vary depending on how the divorce proceeds. The court fee for filing a divorce petition in England and Wales is currently £593 on the .gov website
There are usually other court fees associated with getting divorced too. For example, if you need the court to make a Financial Order or you want to make a Consent Order to formalise a voluntary agreement about children or finances, you will have to pay.
Legal fees
Legal fees will include the cost of retaining a solicitor to advise you on the legal aspects of your divorce, as well as their fees for representing you in negotiations or in court.
Any financial settlement you must pay to your spouse
A financial settlement may require you to give money or other assets to your former spouse or pay ongoing maintenance. You can agree this settlement privately, with the assistance of your solicitors, or in court.
Any child maintenance you are required to pay
Any child maintenance you have to pay will depend on your income, the number of children you have, any benefits you receive (including income support, incapacity benefit or a state pension) and how many other children live in your household.
Who applies for divorce?
Either spouse can start the divorce process, but divorce statistics show that, in opposite-s*x couples, 63% of divorce petitions are filed by the wife. In 2019, 62% of divorce petitions were submitted by the wife in opposite-s*x partnerships.
Wives have been the primary instigators for divorce in opposite-s*x relationships since 1949, although statistics show that this proportion is falling.
Are more people getting divorced nowadays?
Divorce rates appear to be falling and have been since 2000 – as reflected in the number of divorces between 2019 and 2020. This could be because couples are more likely to live together before they get married or as an alternative to marriage, particularly when they are younger.
Another possible reason for the decline in divorce rates is that many people are getting married when they are older, meaning they may be more mature and have more relationship experience. This may mean couples are more likely to make better choices about whom to marry, and can handle conflict within the marriage better.
Interestingly, previous divorce statistics indicated that there was an increase of around 16,000 divorces between 2018 and 2019, but this rise in divorce rates was thought to be down to divorce centres catching up on a backlog of divorces, rather than being an accurate reflection of the number of couples who were looking to get divorced.
How long are couples married before they get divorced?
The most recent UK divorce statistics indicate that more couples are divorcing during their first year of marriage compared to 2019. The divorce rates in this instance show that 1,274 divorces ended before the two-year mark in 2019, whereas 1,530 divorces ended before two years in 2020 – an increase of around 20%.
This particular divorce statistic could have been affected by the unusual and unprecedented circumstances brought on the by onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. The fact that couples were forced to spend increased amounts of time together may have acted as a catalyst for couples who weren’t well suited to one another to find reasons to apply for divorce.
