Recession fuels family stress

The number of legal disputes over children received by client introduction firm Contact Law jumped 49% in January (from 373 in December to 557 in January) as the recession and the stressful Christmas season combined to exacerbate tensions between divorced parents.

Dan Watkins, director of Contact Law, says: “Just as we have seen an increase in divorce proceedings initiated after the Christmas period we are also seeing other family law disputes take a similar seasonal pattern.”