Wives are likely to see their annual household income fall by an estimated 41%, compared to just 21% for husbands, in the year following divorce, according to new research carried out on behalf of financial services business Legal & General Retail.
The research also found that 24% of wives financially struggle post-divorce, compared to 18% of husbands, and have greater concerns about meeting essential costs (21% wives compared to 13% husbands).
And wives are significantly more likely to waive their rights to their husband’s pension as part of a divorce settlement (30% wives against 17% husbands).
Legal & General say that: “The disparity between men and women is caused by a number of factors, one being that men are more likely to be the main breadwinner in families (70% vs. 21% of women), and commonly earn more.”
So what does a wife do to prevent herself being worse off after divorce?
The simple answer is: seek expert legal advice. An expert family lawyer will ensure that they receive their full entitlement in the divorce settlement, and are not worse off than they should be.
Whilst it is certainly still true that men are more likely to be the main breadwinner in families, there is often no reason why wives should be worse off.
They can, for example, seek maintenance for themselves for a period after the divorce, for long enough to enable them to achieve financial independence.
Or they may be entitled to the lion’s share of the assets, to ‘compensate’ for the fact that their income (or earning capacity) is considerably less than their husband’s income.
And there is rarely a good reason why wives should waive their right to a share of their husband’s pension. A pension accumulated during the marriage is as much a matrimonial asset as anything else, and the wife is entitled to a share. In many case pensions accumulated during the marriage should be equalised between the parties.
Family Law Cafe can find you an expert family lawyer that works with you on our digital platform. For more information, call us on 020 3904 0506, or click here, and fill in the form.
You can read the full Legal & General press release here.
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