The most recent statistics for marriages have been released. The Office for National Statistics has published the figures for 2014, both in relation to opposite-sex couples and same-sex couples.
There is a continued trend for opposite-sex couples to marry later in life. The average age for opposite-sex couples for men is 37 years, and for women, it is 34.6 years. Those getting married aged between 25 and 29 saw a slight increase, but those aged between 29 and 35 saw a decrease.
The greatest increases were among men and women aged 65 and over, and the greatest decrease was among men and women under the age of 20.
This suggests that men and women aged 65 and over may be remarrying. At that point in life, wealth has often been generated, so if you fall into this category it is important that you consider protecting your wealth in the event that the marriage breaks down. It is not surprising that couples in this category, therefore, consider entering into pre-nuptial agreements to avoid, for example, children from previous marriages potentially being disinherited.
In relation to same-sex couples, they have the option to marry or enter into a civil partnership. These statistics show that 4850 marriages took place between same-sex couples in 2014, with a greater number of female couples compared to their male counterparts entering into same-sex marriages. Towards the end of the year, same-sex couples were converting their civil partnership into a marriage. There remains a trend for same-sex couples to enter into marriages rather than civil partnerships. In 2014, 1683 civil partnerships were formed and this fell to 861 in 2015. Two-thirds of the civil partnerships formed in 2015 were between men, perhaps suggesting that men are more relaxed about whether to marry than the female counterpart.
We have the team at O’Donnell Solicitors that can advise you in relation to pre-nuptial or pre-civil partnership agreements, as well as assisting you in the unfortunate breakdown of a relationship.
Anthony Jones is Head of Family Law and is a Resolution Accredited Specialist. For more information or a second opinion, please contact him on 0161 641 4555 or email anthony@odonnellsolicitors.co.uk