Sharing the loot after divorce goes digital

With every second Australian marriage ending in divorce, millions of hours are spent wrangling over who gets what when the family home breaks up.

Sometimes dividing up assets is done, expensively, in the courts. Other times former partners spend a lifetime brooding over being cheated in the settlement.

Victoria University computer whiz John Zeleznikow has come up with a software program to take some of the sting out of divorce in which each partner allocates a rating for possessions to be shared against a total points value of 100. The higher the rating, the more likely you are to get it in the settlement.

If you really want the dog, but are not fussy about the car, that priority will be reflected in the rating.

Professor Zeleznikow is hoping the 65 Family Relationship Centres the government is setting up will be interested in the program. The centres are to help couples intent on splitting up resolve matters before the courts become involved.

The Melbourne academic admits that a good divorce lawyer could get one or other of the partners a better deal.

“But you will pay a lot of money and take some time to get advice from a good lawyer,” he told The Sydney Morning Herald. (dpa)