The Timing of Divorces

We all know that June is a favorite month to get married. Did you know that the month when most divorces occur is January?  Strangely enough January also has the fewest number of marriages. Do you think there may be a correlation there?

There is a surge in divorce filings on the first Monday of the year, divorce attorneys say, and that continues for the rest of the month of January.

While December is thought of as a joyous month it hides pain for a lot of folks. Family problems seem to reach their peak during the holidays and build from Thanksgiving through Christmas. The pressure of dysfunctional families and overspending are just two of the problems that raise their ugly heads during this period. Is it any wonder that this spills into January?  The new start of a new year may move to a new start in life as well. What was your new year’s resolution?

Unhappy couples are reluctant to break up the family during Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas or New Year’s day. After that all bets are off. Overall the divorce rate is higher from January through March. While divorces do happen year round the peak period is the first three months of the year.

And divorcees appear to like company. January 4th was the busiest day of the year for online dating with traffic peaking at 8:52 pm EST, according to dating website Match.com. The country’s largest dating website.

It seems that a lot of attorneys take the last two weeks of the year off to get ready for the rush. January really does see a lot of divorces.

This is not to say that January is the best time to get a divorce, it just statistically the month when most divorces do occur. Perhaps, the best day to get divorced is the day before you hit a big lottery jackpot.

Disenchanted husbands and wives begin searching for information on divorce immediately after the holidays. Many of them should also consider mediation as a way to end their marriage rather than the traditional divorce court route.

Remember divorce is never the time for oral agreements. Your about-to-be ex can (will) promise you the moon, but without clarifying details in your official agreement, these promises won't hold up in court, so-to-speak. Normally there is a clause in the agreement that it is the full agreement and no other papers or alleged oral agreements will be considered. It may not feel right to make everything so official, but in the end, your ex-spouse won’t be able to snatch away your furniture or deny visitations. You have it in writing.

At WHYmediate?, we give you the tools you need to resolve Divorce conflicts in a positive learning environment. 

WHYmediate? Mediation Services
4500 South Lakeshore Drive Suite 300 
Tempe, AZ 85282 
(480) 777-5500
http://whymediate.solutions