Uh oh! Winter may be known as cuffing season but now we’re moving into the part of the year where love tends to be lost: divorce season! According to the legal site Find Law, March has claimed a non-prestigious spot in relationship history as divorce month, and the reasons are pretty sad.
For the longest time, January claimed the title as divorce month, most likely due to couples wanting to give themselves a new start in the new year single, but now new analysis shows divorce rates keep climbing through the month of March where they eventually peak right before moving into April.
Mark Ohnstad, an attorney with the Minneapolis law firm Thomsen Nybeck, says there are several different reasons couples may wait until now to file those papers, including not wanting to add additional stress through the holidays, and possibly wanting children to have one last Christmas together as a family. On the flip side, pressure to “be happy” during the holidays leads some men and women to cheat—and their spouses to file for divorce once their caught—which is another explanation for the spike.
In less-romantic news, delayed divorce filings may also be related to taxes. Since your marriage standing as of Dec. 31 determines how you file next year, some couples may want to reap the last financial benefits of that “married, filling jointly” status and hold off paperwork until the beginning of the year.
Chances are if you haven’t drafted papers already you’re safe, but it’s crazy to think that so many of the same issues cause couples to split each year.
Does divorce season ring true for you or anyone you know?
