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Divorce Rates: New Year, New Marital Status?

With 2015 just beginning, many people are looking back over their last year and deciding to make changes. Some people want to lose weight and other try to quit smoking, however many people come up with a surprising New Years resolution: “Get a divorce.” The first few months of the year are some of the busiest times for divorce, with many people finally deciding that it is time to turn over a new leaf. While no one is quite sure what causes this early year bump in divorces, there are a variety of factors that seem to play a role.

Reliable month by month statistics for divorce rates are difficult to come by, but many divorce lawyers report that interest in divorce starts rising in January and ends up at a high around March. Ordinarily, people begin to get curious around the New Year and start looking into their options and trying to learn more about divorce. Some jump right in, but divorce is a big decision, which means that it can, understandably, take people a couple months before they really decide that divorce is right for them.

Possible Reasons

There are a number of factors that probably come together to cause this set of divorces so early in the year. For one, the holidays are a stressful time of year, and they usually involve spending a lot of time in close proximity with a spouse. While a single bad holiday season is probably not enough to drive most people to divorce court, it can often be the final straw. Additionally, many people looking to divorce want to wait until after the holidays in order to have one last holiday season with the family. This is especially true of couples with children, and it may also be responsible for a similar spike in divorces around September when the kids go back to school.

The start of the year is also a good time to get a divorce from a practical standpoint. Filing for divorce around the new year can help people draw clean lines for things like taxes, and it tends to be right after a holiday bonus is paid. That can give people a little bit of extra financial security if they are worried about the divorce. Additionally, most people have a bit of extra free time after the holidays end. Many spend that time doing the research to determine if divorce is right for them, and organizing things they need to file for divorce, like financial records.

While there is never an ideal time to get a divorce, the start of the year is often the best option for many people. If you are considering filing for divorce and want to learn more about it, contact an experienced Naperville divorce attorney today.

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