For love or money

The high cost of living alone has now joined love, `the kids' and citizenship on the list of best reasons to stay married.

A study conducted by Grant Thornton Accountants has found that fewer British couples are filing for divorce, as current low property prices make it harder to sell joint homes and the credit crunch dampens desires to fund two separate households.

Almost half of all matrimonial lawyers surveyed believe the number of divorces has slumped because of the financial squeeze.

The survey also found respondents favoured pre-marital financial agreements over typical pre-nuptial lump-sum amounts that didn't account for drops in the value of an asset.

The study also found that the number of couples that cite financial problems as a factor in their split has more than doubled in the past two years, but still lags behind other reasons including extra marital affairs, abuse, mid-life crises and other family strains.