It’s that time of year when we start to see stories in the newspapers about ‘Divorce Day’ – whether it is about lawyers preparing for a flood of divorce petitions, the court preparing for a flood of divorce petitions or floods of people starting divorce proceedings. There then follows many posts on social media by family solicitors saying there is no such thing as divorce day. So what is it all about and where has it come from?
It’s fair to say that there are some months when the court tends to receive more divorce petitions that other months but there is only a marginal difference. Why is that? Because the decision to get divorced is made by people not solicitors and it is a difficult decision to make, sometimes taking months to come to the conclusion that divorce is the only option.
In over 23 years of working in family law, I have never met anyone who was flippant about getting divorced. All of the people I have worked for have thought long and hard about whether to get divorced in the first place and when that decision is reached, they still feel the emotion of it as the practicalities are resolved.
There are ebbs and flows in life generally when people seem to feel more ready to make decisions. January, I find, is the month for new health and fitness resolutions. February seems to be more the month for spouses to decide to divorce, after a difficult Christmas and January thinking about it. Similarly, September seems to be a month for decisions after perhaps a difficult summer holiday, that did not fix problems but highlighted them, and the children being back in school. Added to that, in my view, there is no ‘right’ month to get divorced because it depends on your own personal timeline – unless you are tax planning and that is a whole other issue.
If you are thinking about getting divorced or separating, there is nothing wrong in getting some confidential legal advice. No one has to know unless you tell them and it might open options for you to think about. I offer a reduced rate fixed fee interview for people to have some advice, specific to their situation and not just a recital of what you might be able to find on the internet.
There is no obligation after this discussion. Some people I meet have these discussions with me and then might come back 4 or 5 months later as it is only then that they are ready to move forward. And that is absolutely fine.
If you think you want to speak to someone, contact me. It’s all confidential.
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