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Divorce property battles surge as housing pressures mount
The cost-of-living crisis has been complicating divorces, forcing some couples to live together, navigate property disputes, and manage financial, legal, and emotional challenges before full separation.
Along with split couples staying together, more prenups being signed, and couples opting for informal separations, the cost of living crisis is causing myriad complications surrounding divorce – navigating separation with property is among them.
Property disputes have been rising, with national rents breaking records and interest rates becoming the mortgage holder’s enemy, separating couples have been figuring out who stays in the family home, and the realities of living “separated under one roof”.
The hardest parts
Tiyce & Lawyers family law specialists principal, Michael Tiyce, said that current economic conditions have left separating couples with more than emotional challenges.
“One of the key challenges is assessing the value of contributions that each party has made during the relationship – factoring in that non-financial contributions can be just as valuable.”
He highlighted that separated couples are often forced to continue living together until “a full financial separation has been achieved”.
According to Tiyce, delays in separation have been commonly caused by difficulties in finding accommodation, mortgage repayments, child support obligations, and the lengthy time it takes to reach a family court resolution.
“COVID presented its own difficulties in terms of selling property and obtaining rentals – while that has eased somewhat, the financial burden is now probably greater without people receiving government-guaranteed income,” he added.
The role of the client
As specialist family lawyers provide curated advice based on their clients' instructions, Tiyce emphasised the importance of clients providing evidential documents, such as bank statements and tax returns, to ensure the advice is accurate and relevant.
“My biggest advice would be for clients to take their lawyers’ advice in order to achieve a swifter resolution and ultimately save money,” Tiyce said.
Best practice for lawyers
Tiyce said that lawyers should remind clients struck with emotion of the commerciality involved in a divorce, as a slow resolution will simply cost more “money and heartache than is necessary”.
To provide holistic advice, Tiyce said that specialist lawyers must work with accountants, valuers and financial advisors to make sure that decisions are made in accordance with the individual circumstances of each client.
Tiyce stressed that the role of lawyers as trusted advisers in these circumstances is crucial – he emphasised that financial agreements are not binding unless certified by a legal practitioner.
“You are making one of the most important decisions of your life; it should be made with full knowledge of all the legal implications that will result from the decision,” he concluded.
This article was first published in SPI's sister publication, Lawyers Weekly.
