Should January really be divorce month?

Despite the claim that lawyers and counsellors see a spike in marriage-related consultations in January, there seems to be no evidence to support such a claim.

And in fact, government data suggests between January and March last year, the 27,908 divorce applications filed last year represent an 11% decrease over the previous year for the same period¹.

During the whole of last year, in the UK the search term “divorce” reached its highest peak at the end of March, and was least searched at the beginning of July².

And yet, many have labelled January as divorce month. Divorce professionals have blamed the festive period in December as a tipping point for separation, and others have said that someone who’s stuck in a family feud over the holidays is likely to wait until January to take action towards breaking their marriage.

In any case, if you’re reading this article and you’re undergoing any problems in your marriage, that is certainly not a good place to be in. It’s never easy to decide if breaking the tie has become inevitable, and indeed to go through anything that follows from that.

If you happen to be in this situation, there are a few steps you could take to make the process more bearable.

Speak to people you trust

Whether it’s about your relationship or the bureaucracy that ensues as you start your divorce proceedings, talking about your intentions could give you a fresh perspective on your future.

If you’ve made your decision, speak to a lawyer you can trust, an accountant you can rely on, a financial adviser who can look after your money properly.

It’s really important that you feel like you only need to focus on moving on while the other aspects of the divorce are being looked after in the very best possible way by professionals. Always partner with someone you trust – that will help you immensely.

Think about what you want

Throughout the divorce process, thinking about what you would like your life to look like is probably a challenge.

Nonetheless, it’s important to do it well. For instance, think about what feels to you like a fair distribution of parental responsibilities post-divorce, if any, what the distribution of financial responsibilities towards your dependants should look like, or anything you’d like to keep or wouldn’t mind giving up.

Once you have a solid and realistic understanding of your requirements when going through divorce, speaking to those you trust should enable you to validate those requirements. From there, you should be working closely with them to reach the goals you’ve set out.

Talk to us

We have worked with many individuals in every stage of their divorce journey, and we know each journey is different. That’s why we always tailor our approach to managing our clients’ money and we do our best to meet their financial ambitions.

We’ll work in collaboration with other professionals involved in your divorce process, and we’ll help you understand, manage and plan your finances for whatever the future holds for you.

Please do get in touch with us if you have any questions about your financial health.

[1]https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/family-court-statistics-quarterly-january-to-march-2024/family-court-statistics-quarterly-january-to-march-2024

[2] Source: Google Trends.