January is when divorce season begins. During December, divorce filings slow down, as the demands of the holidays increase and couples may try to hold things together one last time for their children or for appearances.
After all, there is not much fun to be had by attending events where a spouse is typically expected and having to explain that your husband or wife is not attending because divorce papers were filed.
The holidays may temporarily tamp down family court filings, but they can also be the straw that breaks the back of many marriages. They can be difficult and stress-filled for strong marriages. The demands of matching the television imagery of happy families gathered for a dinner or the photo layouts in magazines of homes perfectly decorated for the season can lead to outbursts and other tension.
In a marriage where there are financial problems, issues of marital infidelity, drug or alcohol problems, physical or psychological abuse or the tiredness of a relationship grown stale, the added burdens of buying gifts, organizing the countless details of a family gathering or some other, seemingly unrelated issue can bring problems to a head.
This can result in the moment where one or both parties realize this can no longer go on. It may take a few days or weeks for that realization to eventually lead to action, but once a spouse has researched on the internet, spoken to friends who have divorced or called a divorce attorney and sat down with them to discuss the details, it then becomes very real.
Source: huffingtonpost.com, “ Some Marriages,” Brenna Strober, December 23, 2015
