Some couples, she says, have found more suitable properties through house swaps, either through traditional estate agents offering such a service or via dedicated sites such as Homeswapper4sale.co.uk. Home swapping, traditionally a way to find temporary accommodation for holidays (by exchanging properties in different countries), is now being used to help initiate sales by matching the homes of people who want to trade up or down but are unable to sell in a normal chain because of stale market conditions. Coach sunglasses

For those couples who sell their property using the traditional route, the process can still be fraught with tension, according to Phil Tennant, regional sales director for central and south-west London at Hamptons International. "The hardest job is to sell a property when the split is acrimonious - you have to have two conversations, as they never agree. We joke we should get a higher percentage when couples are divorcing because it's twice as much work. We could get 100 viewings, 10 offers and none are acceptable." Fake Coach sunglasses

This is why Lake-Carroll suggests looking at an ex-partner "as someone you don't get on with at work - most of us don't have the luxury of treating a co-worker in an unreasonable manner, so get on with it." Coach sunglasses discount

If this sounds grim, Alpert offers hope for a romantic ending: "I've had several couples on the brink of divorce and living as roommates rekindle the passion and go on to have a very healthy marriage." Best Coach Sunglasses