Why a good divorce lawyer is better than the State

The Government is drawing up proposals to intervene in couples’ divorce plans. The idea is that experts will sit down and explain the consequences of breaking up, focusing on the likely damage to children and the couple’s future financial situation.

Those who then go ahead with the divorce will be charged a fee if they want the state to sort out child maintenance arrangements.

The measures, unveiled this week, are aimed at reducing Britain’s divorce rate. Ministers want to introduce a programme successfully pioneered in Norway in which unhappy couples are made to “think again” before going their separate ways.

This is all well and good – in Norway the policy has been credited with reversing rising divorce rates – but there should be no need to spend already-strapped public money on such an initiative. Because advising estranged couples on the consequences of divorce is exactly what a good matrimonial lawyer does!

Although lawyers earn their money from helping couples through the divorce process, a dedicated matrimonial firm understands that marital breakdown is often traumatic and potentially very damaging – financially, emotionally and practically.

Firms such as Benussi & Co take seriously their role in keeping marriages together as much as aiding their dissolution. That is why, when clients first come to see us, our first job is to identify whether or not the marriage has irretrievably broken down or whether, with perhaps some outside help, it can be salvaged.

Over the many years we have been in practice, our expert team has helped to save countless relationships: pointing out the pitfalls of separation often helps to focus people’s minds on what they will lose, rather than what they imagine they will gain.

We also see clients who return to us maybe a decade after they decided, after all, to stay with their partners. They tried to make a go of it, they say, but now they want to divorce. But during the intervening years, their children may have grown up and left home and their finances might be healthier or more clear-cut.

As for the Government charging for arranging child maintenance, that is what all divorce solicitors do as part of the legal process. And, without doubt, good matrimonial lawyers will guide such arrangements more expertly and empathetically than the state, purely because they get to know their clients well and to understand fully the circumstances of every client’s situation.

What the Government would be better doing is encouraging more couples to seek out dedicated divorce lawyers to handle their separations. Niche practices may charge more – but in the long run, their expertise and insight will result in the best resolution for all.