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Carnations? Again? Why Post-Valentine’s Day is a Popular Time for Divorce

By Beth Greenfield, Shine Staff

V-Day can lead to D-DayFlowers, chocolate—and divorce papers? Turns out that the period immediately following Valentine’s Day is a popular time for married couples to call it quits.One recent study suggested divorce filings rose by as much as 40 percent right after the holiday, while anecdotal evidence collected by Yahoo! Shine from divorce lawyers painted Valentine’s Day as time of reckoning more than romance.“People think Valentine’s Day is the day they’re going to fix it all, that they’re going to make everything okay in their marriage. Then, when they can’t? It’s time to file,” Chicago divorce attorney Marie Fahnert told Yahoo! Shine.

“They start consulting in January. Then they say, ‘Let’s see how Valentine’s Day goes,’”   “If their spouse comes through okay, fine. If they get, like, a two-dollar box of chocolate? Check, please!”

Couples, in other words, want to give it one last shot by seeing if their marriage can be rekindled by the most romantic day of the year.

 
 If divorce does indeed spike after Valentine’s Day, It’s  attribute it to two factors.“Valentine’s Day may increase people’s expectations of romance from their spouse,” he said. “If they don’t see a major romantic effort on the part of their spouse, they may decide it’s time to end their marriage.” “Spouses in distress may look to Valentine’s Day as an opportunity for a relational restart. If their spouse doesn’t make a major effort to rekindle the romance, they may decide to go ahead and seek a divorce.”