As family law professionals, myself and my colleagues do our best to guide families through some of the most challenging periods of their lives.

Yet I believe it is also important to be able to place the matters which we deal with in a broader context, against the backdrop of what individuals across the whole of the country are experiencing.

It is possible to do so by glancing at figures published by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), which illustrate the breadth and volume of work handled by the family courts.

They contain emerging patterns which are sometimes useful to us and our legal peers in anticipating the sort of cases which we see.

The latest data, which covers the final three months of 2025, included evidence of one such development which might be regarded with particular caution by those going through divorce when of or nearing pension age – individuals now commonly referred to as ‘silver splitters’.

The MoJ statistics show a 13 per cent overall increase in financial remedy proceedings – the process by which separating couples determine how best to fairly divide their marital assets.

If we look closely at the underlying details, we can see an even more notable rise of 45% in the last five years in the proportion of those financial remedy applications which are contested from start to finish.

Rather than simply take those numbers at face value, I feel that it is necessary to try and find why that might be the case.

On the face of it, the numbers suggest that more people feel the need to argue about the financial terms upon which they end their marriages.

Why more may choose to do so than in previous years surely merits consideration.

There is certainly no shortage of possible economic reasons. In the last few days, for example, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has warned that Britain faces more uncertainty arising from the US and Israel’s ongoing attacks on Iran than any other major nation.

However, I think those effects may well be felt more acutely by ‘silver splitters’ than their younger counterparts.

It is perhaps worth setting out exactly why what they are experiencing is of far more than marginal importance.

In recent years, annual reports published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) relating to households and relationships across the UK have underlined the impact of middle-aged men and women on both marriage and divorce.

They not only demonstrate that the average age at which couples tie the knot continues to creep ever upwards.

The most recent ONS figures actually show that the proportion of individuals over the age of 60 who marry has almost doubled in the space of a decade.

They also reveal that men and women aged over 50 now make up one-quarter and one-fifth of all divorces respectively in England and Wales.

Furthermore, more than 10 per cent of divorces featured one spouse who has already seen a marriage end in this way. Six per cent of divorces involved husbands and wives who had both been divorced before.

That experience is, I believe, often critical in informing how individuals approach a repeat divorce, particularly for those who have reached, or are approaching, retirement.

They recognise that the outcome of a divorce can have immediate consequences, especially when it comes to pensions. By comparison, pension considerations can seem rather more abstract to those who may have decades left to work.

Research published in January by the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) found that less than half of adults recognised how their pensions could be affected by divorce.

Nevertheless – and forgive the pun – the penny has started to drop with more people that pensions are an increasingly important part of a divorce settlement.

For those facing up to losing a chunk of their wealth in such proceedings and with few years of their careers left to restock their bank balances and pension funds, the decision to fight may seem a pretty understandable one to take.

Even so, it might ultimately be counter-productive because it is now widely accepted that litigating is not necessarily the best way forward in such circumstances.

Non-court dispute resolution (NCDR, for short) offers the opportunity to settle differences about how asset division should occur in a more timely, tailored and cost-effective fashion.

Yes, there are cases which are more suitable for court. Some people just do not want to engage with the mediation or arbitration process and wish to have their day in court.

The very nature of mediation means that it is impossible to compel individuals unwilling, for instance, to make the kind of full and frank disclosure needed to arrive at a fair settlement. Judges, on the other hand, can do so.

However, in my experience, spouses who may not previously be aware of the merits of NCDR but take legal advice early on before committing to court proceedings can be convinced that it is a much better, more pragmatic and less combative route to take.

It is why Hall Brown Family Law has invested so heavily over the years in building up its NCDR capabilities, hiring and training specialist lawyers who can deliver the best possible result for clients without incurring the stress, delay and expense associated with navigating the schedules of already over-worked family courts.

That is certainly a point not lost on those in middle age who now account for so much of the dynamic in divorce as in marriage.

A reasonable ‘silver split’ to provide the means with which they can spend their retirement does not have to require a battle, when a well-mediated resolution can more than adequately do the job.