The post-pandemic divorce boom calls for an inside scoop

Warning: fees and gut-wrenching heartache. Because it’s not always easy.

For many of us, social isolation has been a relationship killer. The number of divorce applications and breakups is skyrocketing across Australia and around the world as we are emerging from COVID-19 mandatory lockdowns. 

Facing an impending divorce, people try to move on, live separately but begin to panic because they are not immune to soaring house prices. 

Pandemic-induced divorces?

During the pandemic, as stay-at-home orders proliferated, some relationships adapted and some didn’t. This period intensified everything and revealed fatal cracks in the foundations of many relationships.

It weirdly reminds me of the shake test for cars, which can be a perfect metaphor for this one. 

Car manufacturers have a way to test how well a fully assembled car will perform once it hits the road by...shaking the car in every direction vigorously. By doing this, they can check if the vehicle squeaks or if any loose parts fall out. Only the cars that stand the test will make it to the roads. 

Similarly, hard times in life can be viewed as a test to see whether a relationship between two people is strong enough to sustain for a long time. 

Right, so...according to The Separation Guide, an online divorce and separation information network, there has been a 230%  spike in the number of couples who have grown apart and have been referred to its services. 

Is this a harsh reminder of the fragility of human romance? Maybe. 

Dealing with the bull market 

People who once were in marriages and seeing their kids every day, now have to divide all assets, property settlement to untangle their life from their spouses'. 

Angela Harbison, The Separation Guide’s chief executive says among those seeking sensible and proper steps for divorce, 73% have a family home and 24% have an investment property. 

Most divorcing couples would often sell their house quickly, to move out into separate properties. However, they will have to face a very nail-biting time in the current housing market (I think I am going to cry):

1. We are dealing with the most unaffordable housing market. People are paying through the nose for a property with prices growing more than 22% within the past year.
   
   
2. The costs of building and renovating a home surged 3.8% nationwide from June to September. Particularly, residential construction costs climbed 7.1% over the year.
   
   
3. Delayed turnaround times or issues with paperwork may ruin their chance to secure a loan by the settlement date. This could lead to interest and penalty fees and the possibility of losing their entire deposit.
   
   
4. Buying and selling at the same time are stressful. It means two sets of estate agents and two sets of solicitors to deal with.
   
   
5. Higher incoming interest rates will lead to even more mortgage stress for either partner to hold a mortgage by themself.

During a divorce, it’s very tempting to think of