In the period after the summer holidays, the number of divorces is normally about a quarter higher, according to previous research by TNS NIPO. This causes rush hour for lawyers, mediators and mortgage advisers. According to experts, it is partly because couples have time during the holidays to reflect on their relationship. Or because tensions arise precisely because people are on each other’s lips for so long. There are also divorcing couples who want to go on holiday one last time with the children.
De Hypotheekshop sees that the number of requests for advice in connection with divorce is higher after this summer than last year. “Some advisers even indicate that they have already observed an increase throughout the year,” the chain reported on Friday. In general, the divorcing couples want to act quickly. “Because house prices are favorable at the moment”
Options
If couples own a house, there are in principle only two options in the event of a divorce: one of the two will continue to live in the house, whereby the departing partner is released from joint and several liability and the permanent partner bears the mortgage in full. Or the house is sold and both start looking for other living space.
But by no means all couples can absorb their high house prices and then comfortably build a life of their own, the chain notes. “The increased mortgage interest and high equity values - for the buyout of the departing partner – sometimes make it more difficult than before to find a suitable solution for both parties. The scarce housing supply does not help with that, of course.”
Another pain point is that only one of the partners can take that low mortgage interest. Moreover, according to De Hypotheekshop, a number of lenders are struggling with backlogs in the handling of divorce cases. They would often give priority to applications from new mortgage customers.