New Year, New You?
As the merriment and glad tidings of Christmas give way to the discomfort from over indulging and the January blues, many of us use the New Year to turn the lens inwards and have a look at our lives vowing to make changes. Those changes might be to quit alcohol or smoking, or to diet and exercise more often. Some also consider their current lifestyles in more detail and look to make more sweeping changes such as a new job or, perhaps, even a new relationship.
A New Year and a new reflection on their lifestyle can cause people to take a hard look at their current relationships. They might decide that a new start is necessary, or even essential for their well-being
With this year being the start of a new decade, it is not entirely surprising to see research has already shown Google searches for ‘I want a divorce’ rose by nearly 250% on the first week of January 2020, as compared to December 2019.
The first working Monday in January is often colloquially referred to as ‘Divorce Day’. Here the unfortunate cocktail of perhaps an unhappy Christmas, a return to work after a lengthy break, and a low bank balance with weeks until pay day mix to cause tensions to run higher than at other times of the year. It is easy to see why such high figures for those enquiries are recorded.
Although, it could just as easily be the case that those decisions to bring a relationship to an end were reached before Christmas by one spouse, if not both. People might delay the decision to formally start a divorce until the new year, to protect the children and have one last Christmas together.
So, is ‘Divorce Day’ just another myth?
While experience has shown that I, and other family lawyers, often notice a spike in enquiries in January, I also believe that this is often because November and December tend to be very quiet. People are concentrating on the build up to Christmas rather than their relationship difficulties. I also think that time away from work, and spending that time in a family unit, tends to be ‘make or break’. It often helps a decision to be made about whether or not to bring a relationship to an end. Similarly, I find that new enquiries spike after the Summer holiday periods in June and July as well.
It would be equally true to say that stress and the financial pressure of Christmas, family politics, and the general feeling that January is a time for reflection, do play a part in helping people to come to a decision about the future of their relationship.
Whatever the reasons behind such a decision to end a relationship, we recommend that you get specialist advice on the next steps. At Cotswold Family Law we will discuss your situation, and your concerns and worries about bringing the relationship to an end. We will advise you on the steps to take, and work with you to seek to ensure that the pain of the breakdown is minimised as far as possible.
If you would like to discuss your situation, you can call us on 01608 686 590 or email Cotswold Family Law. Alternatively, you can complete the online form on our Contact page.
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