Yuletide season slows divorce filings

Divorce filings always seem to decrease around Christmas time. There may be many reasons, including some that we hear such as wanting to keep the family together for one last holiday, or feeling guilty about filing around Christmas time. It is a nice reprieve and it is always nice to see people really give their marriage one more good effort.

But then filings seem to always increase after the holidays. People want to make a fresh start. New Year’s resolutions often include a commitment to finally divorce or separate. Or people realize that the goodwill of Christmas was not good enough to make them want to stay forever with their spouse.

Divorce lawyers across the country experience slowdowns in December and increases in business in January every year. This has been a constant in good economies and bad. And again this year, we have seen our share of December consultations which end with clients saying they want to wait until after the holidays, or they want to see how the holidays go. If only that time of good will was year round in their relationships, would divorce rates permanently decrease?