Lawyer Explains Why January Is Considered ‘Divorce Month’

There may be no “good” time to divorce, but many legal professionals have come to refer to January as “divorce month,” given the uptick in divorce applications and proceedings.

The timing is certainly no coincidence, as January follows what is, for many couples, a busy holiday season; as well New Year’s resolutions making people want to hit a reset button. Still, there are a myriad of extenuating factors at play, as family and divorce lawyer Cassandra Kalpaxis recently explained to the NY Post.

“The pressure of the Christmas period where people are being exposed to their families and in-laws, often is the catalyst for people making the decision to end their marriages,” Kalpaxis explained. But beyond dealing with in-laws, she notes that financial pressure can also be a “huge stressor” for families around that time of year. As such, given rising inflation and the current cost-of-living crisis, she expects that this coming season will be particularly difficult.

Kalpaxis says that many couples might hold off on addressing big issues throughout the holidays, often keeping things together for the sake of their families or travel plans.

“Many people use January as a period of reflection as they are on holiday from work and have the time to consider what is going on in life and what they might like to change,” she continued. “This period also throws most people together in close proximity. This means that many people are guided toward this ‘new year, new me’ mentality because they are spending more time with their spouse than any other period throughout the year which makes it much more attractive to clear out the conflict for the new year.”

Likewise, Vicky Townsend, co-founder and chief executive of the National Association of Divorce Professionals, told the New York Times a few years back that divorce is indeed “seasonal.” Townsend said that from Thanksgiving until New Year’s, law offices tend to be slow because couples put off divorcing until after the holidays.

However, in a University of Washington study published in 2016, researchers analyzed filings in Washington state between 2001 and 2015 and found that divorces consistently peaked in March and August. Associate sociology professor Julie Brines, who co-authored the study, says that winter and summer holidays are typically seen as “culturally sacred times for families,” and that filing for divorce can be seen as inappropriate, or even taboo, during these times.

Many couples ostensibly might think that spending Christmas together or taking the family on a summer vacation might help smooth over any marital troubles.

“People tend to face the holidays with rising expectations, despite what disappointments they might have had in years past,” Brines said. “They represent periods in the year when there’s the anticipation or the opportunity for a new beginning, a new start, something different, a transition into a new period of life. It’s like an optimism cycle, in a sense.”

In any case, January will be here before you know it. And now is as good a time as any to make an appointment with a couples therapist to work out any cracks in a relationship before the foundation crumbles entirely.