"The family financial closet is laid bare, scrutinised and quantified before it is divided to meet the requirements of two households rather than one."
He says: "Whether they are a financial breadwinner, a high earner or a home maker, they can find themselves facing financial or personal difficulties as they struggle to come to terms with their new reality or they grapple for control when the future looks uncertain.
"Everyone, even the most financially successful and astute, is at risk, but particularly so if they have not taken steps to protect their wealth. For many clients their financial settlement will be the single most important financial decision of their lives."
This leads to increased vulnerability - a topic the City watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority, has been keen to impress upon the collective mind of the financial services industry.
Some advisers would say the so-called 'silver splitters' are particularly vulnerable, through loneliness, a lack of a decent pension for one party, and the prevalence of age-related health orders putting increasing pressure on individuals.
Peter Burgess concurs: "Older women are probably a demographic who are particularly exposed.
"A long absence from the workplace and a trend for shorter, lower maintenance awards means they can often find themselves disadvantaged by a career break or life decisions made with their husband when times were better."
The lower earner, or the non-working spouse, is often cited by advisers as being most at risk, due to the potentially cliff-edge in income that will be their lot post-divorce.
Again, women are most likely to fall into these categories, due to the nature of employment especially if they have left work or are working reduced hours in order to care for any children.
But this is not always the case - and advisers might do well to consider that both parties are at risk at this time, regardless of income.
Ben Burgess, senior adviser at Lifesearch, says both parties are particularly vulnerable. Even if one of them is not the adviser's client, making the process easier for both should be in the adviser's mind.
He says: "The emotional, mental, and financial anguish of going through a divorce can be crushing.
"Couples go into a marriage under the premise that they’ll be together 'until death does them part' but a quick internet search shows that 42 per cent of marriages in the UK end in divorce, which is staggering.
“The least vulnerable group are likely to be younger couples with no children. Shared financial responsibilities are usually small in number and without children there are no common threads which will keep them tied together, although they may be reliant on each other’s income for where they live.
