The composition of families continues to change over time. The generation of women born in 1951 had 2.04 children; the generation born in 1978 have 1.95 children. The forecast is for the next generation (born in 2007) to have just 1.52 children Girls who have been born this year are Read more…
People in the UK have around 20 million small pension pots worth under £10,000 each. These small deferred pension pots have been accumulated as people change employment during their working lives. Many of the pension pots are very small and therefore expensive to run and that results in lower returns. Read more…
What the law says about dividing finances and property on divorce is lacking – including among divorcees themselves. The study, by the University of Bristol, found that less than half of ten statements were correctly identified as either true or false. The levels of understanding was only slightly better among Read more…
One in every six parents can’t spot the signs of emotional abuse. The NSPCC asked parents to identify what would count as emotional abuse. The scenarios that were wrongly identified as emotional abuse include: Being over-controlling of a child Never showing any emotions in interactions with a child Pushing a Read more…
Just over a quarter of a million recent divorces were postponed due to financial pressures since 2020. 17% of divorces were deferred because of money worries. Couples cited income concerns, rising living expenses and the cost of divorce. Once separated, almost half of divorcees see their incomes shrink by an Read more…
The Family Mediation Voucher Scheme is to be continued for another year. The Family Mediation Council says it has been successful in helping people make important agreements without the need to go to court. The scheme will now run until March 2026. The government supports family mediation and is working Read more…
The delays for public sector workers in getting their pension valuations are continuing. Many people cannot complete their divorce settlements because of the changes in how pension pots are valued. The government’s Money Helper website says that if you qualify for a Cash Equivalent Transfer Value (CETV), it must be Read more…
The High Court has overturned a judge’s decision to forego the financial dispute resolution (FDR) in a case where there was “an ongoing factual dispute about the wife’s earning capacity and that the wife’s position had not crystallised to enable the FDR process to be successful”. The High Court judge Read more…
60% of terminated Individual Voluntary Arrangements created by Insolvency Practitioners showed evidence of poor practice. Examples of this included inaccurate recording of income and expenditures, incorrect dismissal of other debt solutions, and providers failing to ensure that people understood what they were signing up for. Individual Voluntary Arrangements are a Read more…
Measures to protect women and girls from violence are to be improved by putting specialists in domestic abuse in 999 call centres. Last year, the police recorded 100 offences related to domestic abuse every hour. This new initiative aims to ensure that calls for help are treated urgently and that Read more…