Divorcing parents are increasingly being forced to raid their pension pots to help them with the immediate costs of supporting their children according to Hugh James solicitors.

The number of pension sharing and attachment orders made in divorce cases involving children has increased to 2,533 in 2011, up 8 percent from 2,353 the year before.

Malcolm Stevens, head of the family team at Hugh James, said: “In the past, the sale of the family home after a divorce might have been enough to provide sufficient cash to establish two separate, if smaller, households, and also make other provision for costs like school fees, un...