January is 'divorce month' — a lawyer breaks down the top signs a marriage is about to dissolve
It's divorce season.
The antithesis to December's engagement season, divorce filings begin to spike in January, peaking in February and March.
But it's not the gloomy weather that does couples in. It's the post-holiday jolt back to reality that has them questioning their future together.
"What I find is that most people in December want to get through the holidays. Nobody wants a divorce summons put into their stocking," Jacqueline Newman, a managing partner at a top New York City divorce law firm, told Business Insider.
But once the holiday glow has waned and spouses settle back into old habits, many people flock to Newman's office to get a better idea of what a divorce would look like. She calls it "keeping your options open" month.
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"They want to be able to be in a position to make an educated decision," Newman says. "They come in and they say, 'What would happen with my kids? What would it look like financially?' It's the information-gathering stage."
From there, clients are able to digest the practical sides of a split, and many return in February and March ready to commit to the decision. But not every person who consults an attorney ends up actually filing for divorce.
"One of the first questions I ask clients is, 'Are you sure you want to get divorced?'" Newman says. "Because I suggest trying everything you can before you come into my office because you never want to look back. Divorce is financially expensive, emotionally expensive, and you have to make sure that this is exactly the choice that you want to make."
Though the numbers look different for every couple, divorce typically costs between $15,000 and $20,000 — not too far away from the $32,000 price tag of the average wedding.
So how can you tell if you and your partner are on the precipice of a permanent split?
While there are no hard and fast rules — by no means do any of these indicators guarantee you're destined for divorce — there are a few signs that could indicate you're in troubled waters:
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