Married couples in Northern Ireland are now waiting longer to scratch the fabled seven-year itch - with research out indicating that most divorces occur after 11 years of wedlock.

More than two-thirds of solicitors surveyed by financial advisers Grant Thornton said that the majority of break-ups happen in the second decade of the marriage.

Sally Longworth, partner at Grant Thornton's practice in Belfast said: "This rather dispels the age old myth about marriages failing after seven years.

"It is impossible to put any scientific reasoning on why certain marriages succeed and others fail.

"However, this survey probed solicitors about the real reasons behind divorce applications rather than the generic reason sometimes given of 'unreasonable behaviour'."

The examination of the main causes of divorce found that one in four marriages end due to a partner having an affair.

But around the same number fail simply because the husband and wife believe they have fallen out of love.

Just under one in five of those filing for divorcee cite unreasonable behaviour by their partner.

The study also found that men are more likely to conceal assets from their wives during the legal proceedings.

Four out of five solicitors claimed that the man was usually the one who tried to hide wealth in divorce settlements.