Family Law Collaborative Divorce Blog : Bath Divorce Solicitors : Sharp Family Law : UK Collaborative Law & Family Mediation : Bristol, Swindon & Southern England

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Daily Mail Newspaper began January 2010 with “Divorce Day heralds rising toll of marital strife in 2010” as a headline on the 4^th January 2010, quoting the website divorce-online.co.uk as saying that the general divorce rate would rise by 2% in 2010 with the recession taking most of the blame. It has ended the month with the headline “Divorce rate falls to 35 year low” on 29^th January 2010.

Confused? More couples do traditionally decide to divorce in the UK during the month of January than during any other month in the year, but the latest figures, published by the Office for National Statistics during the past week, show that fewer couples ended their marriages in 2008 than in any year since the divorce boom of the 1970’s.

Will 2010 be the year that bucks the falling divorce rate trend of recent years as divorce-online.co.uk predicts?. Will divorce levels rise in 2010 as a result of the strains and stresses added to marriages by the recession?. Much may depend on the relationship support that is available and offered to help couples work through their issues and decide whether staying together is an option to be explored.

In their recent article Divorce rate lowest for 29 years, the BBC quote Claire Tyler, chief executive of Relate as saying "Relationship support works, with 80% of respondents to a Relate survey, who wanted to keep their relationship together, stating they felt counselling helped to strengthen their relationship. Independent research also showed we know that 50% of separated people said they felt there were things they could have done to prevent their break-up, and they wished they'd done more."

Recently, I was approached by a Bath couple who wanted my help with the issues surrounding what they thought was their pending separation. They were anxious to find a non-contentious process as they feared a fall out between them would adversely affect their 3 year old son. That fear of how best to co- parent after parting opened an opportunity to refer my client, the husband, to Chris Mills a family consultant based in Bath. Specializing in supporting divorcing and separating couples to understand and manage the complex emotional dynamics of their separation, Chris was able to help the husband look at his situation and relationship with his wife. A few days later I received the following email

“My wife and I are going to remortgage and stay in our home. It is thanks to your caring and knowledgeable service. I cannot thank you enough”

The wand that encourages marital reconciliation may not always be available nor work its magic but as the BBC reported in their article more marriages might be saved with with the involvement of th right professional. In the About Section of this blog are listed two mental health professionals who have been accredited by Resolution to work in the specialized field of divorce and separation.