Rebecca Tarn, Top Divorce Lawyer of Major Family Law, Newcastle’s best family law specialists, comments:

The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show a decrease of 3% in the amount of divorces in England and Wales between 2012 and 2013 and an overall decrease in divorces since 2003.  However, the fall in divorces is consistent with a decline in the number of marriages between 2003 – 2009, which may be due to an increase in the number of couples deciding to cohabit rather than get married.