When it comes to old wives tales and myths, divorce is a hot topic.

Everyone knows someone who is happy to dish out advice. However, as often as not, that advice has little foundation in legal facts. As professionals linked to the divorce process, it is essential that we give people the right information to help them navigate the divorce process as easily as possible without overburdening themselves with additional stress and cost.

Each divorce or separation has a unique set of circumstances and should not be directly compared to any other. Coupled with incorrect terms that are bandied around, changes to the law and misinformation, the potential for people to be caught out when splitting up by trusting in what they have heard is immense.

Finances linked to a couple give rise to a whole host of myths. For instance, if a husband is going bankrupt, a wife will often assume that she will still get the house, particularly if there are any children involved. The reality is that the security of the matrimonial home will be threatened and the question will arise as to whether the property should be sold to pay off the creditors.

Businessmen may assume that a pension they had before a marriage is safe in the event of a divorce. However, an experienced family lawyer will tell you that – assuming it was not an exceptionally short marriage – who owned what before the wedding is largely irrelevant when sorting out a settlement. A court will consider what is a fair arrangement given the facts and relative needs now. Both parties’ pensions will be considered as a part of that.

And many people believe that once a Decree Absolute is declared, all financial claims are dismissed. In fact, claims on an ex-partner's assets can be made years later unless certain criteria are met.

Next month Woolley & Co is launching a new book – Exploring the myths about divorce and separation – and associated website at divorcemyths.co.uk to help people find the truth amid the hearsay. Copies of this will be available free of charge to hand out to clients looking for a bit of guidance.

It also includes our top five most common myths about divorce. These are:

• We are common-law man and wife so I have the same rights as if we were married
• I didn’t commit adultery because I was already separated from my wife when it happened
• The wife always gets the house when a couple divorces.
• Getting divorced is going to cost me a fortune
• The children always get to live with their mother.

To request your copies of Exploring the myths about divorce and separation, email michelle.webley@family-lawfirm.co.uk or please call 0800 321 3832.

With so many people these days marrying more than once, disputes over who gets what in a will are on the increase.

A person with children who remarries and makes a new will leaving everything to their new spouse might assume that ultimately their original offspring will be given a share. But the reality is that they can often miss out and pursue legal channels if they feel they have been treated unfairly.

Robert Weston runs Inheritance Act Claims and Will Dispute Solicitors, trading as Three Counties Law LLP. Based in Evesham but helping clients across the country, Robert has been working in the legal sector for more than 20 years, first with the litigation department of a large firm before moving to specialise in contested Will and inheritance issues.

“Four or five years I ago I decided to set up a specialist website offering these services and have found there is an ever growing market for my services,” said Robert.

“Sometimes we will have a situation where a person dies while they are in the process of divorcing and there’s a potential claim against their estate by an estranged partner.

“Despite the current economic market, people still often have a considerable amount of equity in their properties, which means that there is more to argue over”.

“Another area of work that we cover is where someone wants to challenge the validity of a will, for example because they believe that the person making the will lacked the necessary mental capacity.

“We always encourage people to look at mediation and working things out amicably rather than going to court because this type of claim can be very expensive.”

Robert can be contacted on 01386 712101 or info@willdisputes.co.uk

Divorce 'health scars permanent'

A new study has revealed that divorce can permanently damage a person’s health, reports the BBC.

Research completed in Chicago among more than 8,500 people shows divorcees have 20 per cent more chronic illnesses, like cancer, than those who don’t marry.

The figure only drops to 12 per cent for those who remarry, researchers write in the Journal of Health and Social Behaviour.

Although people who remarry after a divorce or being widowed do tend to be happier as a result – being no more depressed than those continuously married and less depressed than those who never married – they gain little in terms of chronic health conditions.

Researcher Dr Linda Waite, a sociologist at the University of Chicago, said divorce or widowhood undermines health because incomes drop and stress develops over issues such as shared child care.

At Woolley & Co we do often see break-ups associated with ill health and the findings come as no surprise to managing partner Andrew Woolley.

“Going through a divorce is a traumatic experience and incredibly draining for all parties involved. It makes sense that their health might be adversely affected in the long term, not just around the time when the process is happening,” he said.

“But by choosing the right legal representation and other professional services, people can minimise the stress they have to deal with. Getting good quality advice in plain English and having a lawyer who is easy to talk to can be a great help.”

New Civil Partnerships drop in 2008

Civil partnerships – the marriage equivalent for same-sex couples – are decreasing for the first time since they were introduced in 2005, new statistics show.

The Office of National Statistics(ONS) has revealed that the number of new civil partnerships dropped by 18 per cent in 2008 compared to the previous year, with 7,169 unions compared to 8,728.

There have been a total of 33,956 same sex couples registered since the Civil Partnership Act came into force in December 2005 giving gay couples the same rights as married couples.

The new figures also reveal that there were 180 civil partnership dissolutions in 2008 and that 24 per cent of all ceremonies are conducted in London.

The full report can be found on the ONS website.

Cooling off call before divorce

Couples should be forced to have a three-month cooling-off period before being allowed to divorce, a Conservative think-tank is recommending.

Commissioned by ex-Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith, the report also proposes a network of family relationship centres to advise couples before and during marriage in a bid to cut the number of family break-ups.

The report, called Every Family Matters, urges that estranged husbands and wives should be required by law to undergo a three-month period before launching divorce proceedings to reflect on their marriage and examine the possibility of reconciliation.

It suggests a range of measures to reform family law, including tax breaks to promote marriage and reversing Labour proposals to offer rights to unmarried cohabiting couples.

Additionally, the document calls on the government to follow the example of an Australian programme which sends couples to relationship counselling centres.

Andrew Woolley commented: “At Woolley & Co we have long been advocates for pre-marriage counselling, so that couples really understand the long term commitment they are making before they marry. Maybe the Conservatives have been reading our family law blog!”

The Divorce Show planned for Birmingham’s NEC in Birmingham next month has been postponed until February 2010.

Woolley & Co is still a headline sponsor of the event, which will pull together a range of professionals and services under one roof for people starting a new life after going through a relationship break-up.

The organisers are keen to talk to IFAs, life coaches, mortgage brokers indeed any professional advisors wanting to reach those going through relationship breakdown.

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