The last 18 months have been a time of uncertainty in light of the Coronavirus pandemic. A time which has changed our perceptions of how we want to live our lives and for some spend our time with.
In light of this, the Kent-based law firm Whitehead Monckton has carried out research to uncover which cities have searched for ‘divorce’ the most over the last year to reveal the divorce hotspots in the UK.
Divorce search terms were also analysed such as ‘how to get a divorce’ and ‘divorce application’ which are both up compared to 12 months ago.
Peterborough is the number one city in the UK where people have searched Google the most for more information on divorce followed by Leicester, Stoke-on-Trent and Manchester.
Our research shows that the UK divorce hotspots for divorce are:
1. Peterborough- 100
2. Leicester - 86
3. Stoke-on-Trent, Manchester- 85
4. Birmingham, Newcastle upon Tyne, Bournemouth - 78
5. London,76
6. Glasgow, Bradford, Hull - 75
7. Cardiff, Edinburgh - 72
8. Plymouth,Southampton - 71
9. Leeds,66
10. Liverpool,Portsmouth, Belfast and Derby - 65
The term ‘divorce’ has fallen slightly over the last year ((8/31/20 - 8/31/21), however it peaked just before Christmas as the nation went into a hard lockdown and then again in May as lockdown restrictions started to ease (as highlighted in the graph below)
Daniel Bennett, Director and Head of Family Department at Whitehead Monckton, said: “It is unclear why searches for ‘divorce’ have dropped over the last year.
“It may be a function of COVID but then questions relating to the timing for divorces increased which would seem to indicate that people still want information about divorcing.
“It can generally take four to six months to get a divorce but this depends upon how quickly the two people deal with documents and how fast the court does too.
“If the two people work together to file the papers quickly it can cost very little however costs increase if one person doesn’t agree to divorce or tries to throw a spanner in the works.
“The law is going to change to a ‘no fault’ version soon, but at present, if you haven’t been separated for two years, you have to use the grounds of adultery or unreasonable behaviour.
“If you have been separated for two years, you can use this if the other person agrees, or five years if they don’t, and desertion if you have been abandoned for more than two years.”
Daniel adds:“People can file themselves online and by post, or use a solicitor to do this.
“There are currently enormous delays in processing divorces on paper through the regional divorce centres set up for the purpose, which makes it all the more important to get the details right.
“Lawyers, like myself, are here to guide you through a process that is now more complicated than ever!”
