xtramarital affairs and mid-life crisis were the most common cause of marriage breakdown, according to the results of the survey of 100 leading divorce lawyers in England and Wales conducted by chartered accountants Grant Thornton.

The survey revealed that 29 percent of divorces last year were due to extramarital affairs (from 32 percent previously) and 14 percent were because of mid-life crisis. In majority or 93 percent of mid-life crises, the man was the one who was undergoing the crisis.

In marriages which disintegrated because of extramarital affairs, majority or 78 percent of the time, the cheating spouse was usually the husband. The percentage of cases in which the wife was the cheating party even dropped from 31 percent in 2006 to only 22 percent in 2007.

Two out of three lawyers, based on the survey, had at least one client who hired detectives or private investigators to spy on a spouse believed to cheating. In majority of cases or 64 percent, the one hiring the detective was the wife.

Majority or 94 out of 100 of the family lawyers polled by Grant Thornton named England and Wales, where prenuptial agreements are not binding, as the best place for a wife get her divorce settled.