LAW firms in Liverpool could be bracing themselves for a New Year divorce boom as couples stressed by the Christmas period end their marriages.
Some leading specialist practices reported taking on up to three times their normal number of divorce cases after last Christmas.
A survey for the information website Insidedivorce.com found as many as one couple in five seeks advice on divorce after Christmas.
Extra festive drink at Christmas parties is often blamed for causing the wave of family misery that can wash up in the offices of law firms early in the New Year.
Overindulgence is not necessarily a cause, however, but often a symptom of problems such as extra financial pressures from the Christmas shopping spree, disparate relatives being thrust together, and estranged parents being separated from their children.
For many specialist family solicitors, the Christmas break falls in the middle of a season of ill-will between couples and former partners, often ending up being resolved by the courts.
In the run-up to Christmas, arguments between former partners about contact and residence increase, often requiring lawyers to intervene.
Between Christmas and New Year, injunctions may be needed to restrain abusive and sometimes violent partners.
Then, in February, when both the financial consequences of separation and the unpaid Christmas bills hit home, there is more work to do handling ex-partners’ debt problems and, possibly, bankruptcy.
John Binks, North West region acting regional director of the Legal Services Commission, which runs a free legal helpline, said: “Christmas can be a very stressful time that puts relationships under a great deal of pressure and some of them don’t survive. It is at difficult periods like this that we work with our skilled and dedicated providers, to ensure people get the help they need.
“Wherever possible we support mediation to help resolve people’s problems before they get to court but sadly this is not an option for every couple, especially where domestic abuse is involved.�
Community Legal Advice can be contacted on 0845 345 4 345 or at www.communitylegaladvice.org.uk .
Co-habiting couples, too, are being warned that they could face a minefield when they split up, without the right legal advice up front.
Clare Kerrigan, family law specialist at Morecrofts, points out that the law is different from people who are married, and disagreements over the division of property can result in lengthy and costly court proceedings.
She said: “If the couple decides that the home should be solely owned by one person and then the couple separate, the other party does not have an automatic right to claim on the property. The non-owner must establish an interest.
“This is an area of law which is becoming increasingly tested and there are presently proposals to change it.�
Alison Chapman had lived with her partner, with whom she had three children, for 23 years.
There is no documentation of the financial contribution she has made to the family home in Liverpool and she has been fighting to stay there with the children since the breakdown of their relationship in 2005.
She said: “My partner quite easily walked out to start a life somewhere else, and the legal system gave him permission to do that. I had to get an order to prevent him selling the house.
“People can say I made an active choice not to marry him, that it’s my problem, and I understand that – but our children’s needs have been completely compromised and they need that protection.
“I’m not alone, this is not an unusual scenario, and the current legislation needs to change.�