Divorced couples cannot move out

Cormac Murphy

MANY estranged couples seeking a divorce must still live together as they cannot afford to sell the family home, it's claimed.

The increasingly common problem is being blamed on the end of the property boom, which has left many homeowners in negative equity.

There were 4,081 divorce applications in 2007, while 3,658 were granted.

And the figures for 2008 are expected to be higher as lawyers reported a "massive upsurge" in the number of couples seeking advice on separation and divorce since the beginning of last year.

Maintenance

Judicial separation expert Roisin O'Shea has lifted the lid on the difficulties facing spouses who no longer want to stay together.

And there is a further problem in that fathers who agreed to pay maintenance in better economic times are now struggling to meet the payments.

Ms O'Shea, quoted in a newspaper today, said "people can't afford to sell" the family home, which is in arrears.

She said "there is simply not enough there" to divide up between two partners so they both remain in the house.

Ms O'Shea said judges don't have all the answers and are looking for leniency from banks and building societies. She added that draft separation agreements should contain a clause providing for a reduction in maintenance if necessary.

Family law solicitors last year anticipated even greater numbers of wealthy people would break up, as the reality of the economic downturn sank in.

But less well-off couples were finding they were unable to separate or divorce because of the extra expense involved in maintaining separate lives.

Ann O'Neill, a solicitor practising in family law with McKeever Rowan solicitors in Dublin, said in June last year there was a "massive upsurge" in the numbers of people seeking separation and divorce.

Ms O'Neill said all her colleagues were reporting a similar increase which, she said, was obvious over the previous 18 months, and even more so since the beginning of 2008.

While the noticeable increase mirrored the economic downturn Ireland, she said it was too early to definitively state that it was "recession related".

"I have had a huge surge in business. A lot of high net-worth individuals are finding their marriages going down the tubes," she said.