For Love or money: Will marriage be the next casualty of the credit crisis?

Investors may not be the only ones rushing to the exits.

Investors may not be the only ones rushing to the exits. In a recent survey of 100 married London investment bankers, stockbrokers and fund managers, 79 percent say marriages are more likely to break down during an economic downturn. More than one fifth believe disgruntled spouses are likely to seek divorce before the credit crunch worsens — and their chances of winning lucrative divorce settlements wane.

The research, commissioned by Sandra Davis, head of divorce law at London-based law firm Mishcon de Reya, finds that those who are least concerned about the impact of shrinking bonuses on marital bliss have been hitched for fewer than three years. “Either the honeymoon period lasts three years or new spouses have had less time to get used to the high life,” says Davis, who is 52 and happily married to a dentist. The good news for dependent wives is that nearly half of respondents say mistresses and girlfriends will feel the pinch first. One possible explanation: Only 4 percent of those surveyed have signed prenuptial agreements. There was no similar series of questions pertaining to female breadwinners.

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