Family Law Inverness Latest News

A recent study from America has found that watching films about relationships can be just as effective at preventing divorce for couples as other, more traditional forms of marriage counselling.

Researchers at Rochester University found that where couples watched and discussed five relationship films over a month, the divorce or separation rate fell from 24% to 11% after three years.

"We thought the movie treatment would help, but not nearly as much as the other programs in which we were teaching all of these state-of-the-art skills," said Ronald Rogge, associate professor of psychology at the University of Rochester and lead author of the study.

A recent study from Ohio State University has found that the ‘typical American family’ is a thing of the past.

Researchers found that the first decade of this century has seen dramatic changes to family structure in America, with people waiting longer to get married, many choosing to remain single, and a rise in divorce and remarriage rates.

Researchers were particularly troubled by how families are taking increasingly divergent paths.

Recent statistics released by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency have given a breakdown of the number of marriages, divorces and civil partnerships that occurred in 2012.

The figures show that the marriage rate in Northern Ireland in 2012 increased to 5.9 persons marrying per 1,000 population aged 16 and over, from 5.8 in 2011. However, this still remains much lower than the rate seen 30 years ago of 9.0 persons per 1,000 population aged 16 and over in 1982.

The male marriage rate remained at 12.1 men marrying per 1,000 men aged 16 and over in 2012, while, the female marriage rate rose from 11.3 women marrying per 1,000 women aged 16 and over in 2011, to 11.4 in 2012. However, male and female marriage rates remain lower than those of 30 years ago (18.6 men and 17.3 women in 1982), indicating that many men and women may be choosing to cohabit rather than marry. In fact, around half (52%) of couples who married in 2012 reported living at the same address before marriage.