According to many divorce lawyers, including Attorney Irwin Pollack, founder of Family Law Group and its parent company, Pollack Law Group, more people file for divorce in January and February. Why this happens is a little more complicated.
There are personal reasons that January and February are big divorce months for family law attorneys. The holidays are over, but the stressors that have built up don’t go away that quickly. People have money worries because of the money they spent on presents. They are stressed out because they had to spend time with relatives they don’t like. If they have kids, they often stay together until after the holidays so as not to spoil things for their children.
There are also practical reasons why more people file for divorce in the winter months. First, if they work for a company that provides holiday bonuses, they may feel financially ready to undertake the legal action needed to end their marriages. Another reason: By waiting until after January 1, they can still file a joint tax return with their soon-to-be-ex and get the tax benefits of filing jointly as a married couple.
Of the two months, February is the bigger. Of course, there’s Valentine’s Day, which can be wonderful or very disappointing. If it’s the latter, that could be the tipping point. And January and February are the biggest months for bankruptcy filings (depending on the year), the financial problems revealed by filing Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy can be another tipping point. It could even be as simple as the second or third month of a hard winter that keeps people indoors, forcing them to be together more than they’d like.
Read the full article via Massachusetts Family Law Attorney Talks About Winter Divorce Spike – Press Release – Digital Journal.