Kent lawyers are now offering more support to those going through financial struggles post divorce. Lorna Shah from Legal and General joined The Kent Morning Show.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Lorna, thank you very much for joining me this morning.
00:03Now, some really shocking figures here, but perhaps not to you.
00:07One in four women are left financially vulnerable after divorce.
00:11But you're from the south-east, though, so take us through that picture.
00:14For us here in Kent, is it pretty similar to that national picture?
00:18Yes, our research was nationwide, but the picture was very similar throughout the whole country.
00:24But in the south-east, very similar, that women really are significantly impacted by divorce.
00:32And why is that? Why are so many women worse off after divorce in comparison to men?
00:38So I think it probably starts quite early on.
00:42The research showed that around 50% of women are financially reliant on their husbands during marriage.
00:50And of the 50% that aren't, only half of those are actually the main breadwinner.
00:56Lots of women have prioritised caring responsibilities, both for children or elderly relatives.
01:04And as part of a marriage where you're pulling together as a team, that works really well.
01:09But on divorce, it can leave women really exposed.
01:12And when it comes to divorce as well, is the sort of support available and financial support equal for both men and women as well?
01:19So I think it's really key to get good financial advice, if at all possible, during a divorce.
01:26I think it's a very emotional time for those involved.
01:29And our research has shown that around only 13% of women actually look at pension assets, for example, as part of a divorce.
01:39And I think given how emotional it can be and how difficult it can be on an immediate finances, I think it's really easy to focus on kind of what's going to happen in the next six months to 12 months, rather than necessarily looking at the long picture.
01:55Yeah, and quite unfortunately, a lot of marriages do end up in divorce.
02:01It's something we see more and more, I suppose, is that essence of marriage being lost in the modern day as well?
02:07Are people just deciding not to because they're seeing so many people around them be divorcing in the media much more as well?
02:15Are we losing what marriage should be actually about?
02:19I mean, our research didn't really focus on that.
02:22I think the move to a no-fault divorce was a real positive step for women.
02:26It gives them much more kind of options and it reduces the cost of a divorce, which I think is really important.
02:31But I don't think that takes away from the fact that after a divorce, you know, in the first year, women's income can drop by 50%.
02:42And that's, you know, a huge hurdle to overcome.
02:45And that's before you layer on things like even when women want to re-enter the workforce and really focus on their career,
02:52that they're twice as likely to be hampered because of childcare responsibilities and they have significantly more difficulty with juggling childcare alongside a full-time or even a part-time job.
03:06Yeah, and tell us a bit more about that move to a no-fault divorce.
03:09Exactly what it is, what it means for both parties involved and how important that move was.
03:14So, I guess the key behind it was that before that, there needed to be kind of a real reason or a long elapsed time.
03:23And it made it quite difficult for individuals to amicably separate.
03:27And there was also an awful lot more cost involved.
03:29And so, the no-fault divorce has really enabled, you know, couples wanting to split to do that in what was supposed to be a much more cost-effective and amicable way.
03:39So, that definitely was a positive step forward.
03:41I think what we need to just make sure is that the financial split within a divorce is much more equitable too.
03:50And I think that, you know, taking financial advice, thinking about both your short-term implications and the long-term implications are really important for women in particular.
04:01And what about that support?
04:02I mentioned it a little while earlier about what type of support is out there.
04:06But I suppose, what do you give and what do you offer to women who may have found themselves in a difficult position where they perhaps want a divorce for reason or no reason, but feel this financial strain as well?
04:19Yeah.
04:19So, there's lots of financial advice options out there for people in this situation, independent financial advice.
04:29At Legal and General, we also provide financial advice and have guidance tools.
04:33In particular, we've built a financial health tool, which I think is very helpful when considering a divorce.
04:38It sort of has a checklist that you can go through to make sure that you are considering all eventualities and that you are in the best possible position to kind of make those informed decisions.
04:50And have more women been reaching out and using the service and using that sort of option now that we are three years from these no-fault divorces?
04:58We are definitely seeing an uptake in the guidance and advice, but there's definitely still a long way to go.
05:07You know, I'd recommend anybody in that position, you know, if you just Google LNG divorce, you'll see access to the tool and then hopefully it can provide help for more people.
05:18And we're talking at the start of April as well, which has been dubbed this awful April where everything seems to go up in price as well.
05:25So, for a lot of people, this is a really tricky time to divorce if they are tied financially as well.
05:31So, take us through some of the statistics and figures around people being, for people really struggling after divorce.
05:38Yeah, so the research has showed that in the first year after divorce, women's income can drop by on average 50%.
05:45And that has meant that, you know, over around a quarter of women could really struggle and about 20% are worried about essentials, heating, food.
05:59And that's clearly not a comfortable position and one we want anybody to be in.