While there is never a good time for a divorce, conventional wisdom (and some New Year’s resolutions) have led to a wave of divorces being filed in January and February of each year. Part of the reason is due to families with children to hoping to wrap-up the divorce before the start of the next school year. However, school calendars, frequent relocations for work, and blended families have up-ended this trend to some extent. In many cases, filing a Spring or Summer divorce may make the most sense. This blog covers three key reasons why a divorce at this time of the year may make the most sense.
- Court’s have more time: In dense cities, crime sometimes spikes in the Summer increasing criminal caseloads, but civil litigation tends to slow in the Spring and Summer months because people cooped up at home and work in the dreary Fall and Winter months spend a lot of time outdoors or on vacation—not in an attorney’s office or courtroom. This ordinarily slows the civil court docket and makes hearing dates easier to obtain and for quicker rulings because judges have more time. In addition, your spouse may be more agreeable in the Spring and Summer because neuroscience shows people tend to be happier in bright sunny conditions. So, depending on your situation, your case may move faster with less acrimony in the Spring and Summer. Is this your case?
- Childless couples or couples with grown children: The trends are clear that many people are delaying having children or do not have them at all within marriage. In addition, many career-driven spouses place more importance on work than family. America is leading a high-work-hour-week number compared to other Western countries. Finally, there is a growing trend of divorce amongst retirees because they are living longer, healthier lives and are not averse to re-entering the single life after retirement. For these individuals, the Spring or Summer may be exactly the right time to work through the divorce process, as time spent in a broken or dysfunctional marriage is time that will be lost and not spent on a better future. Is this your marriage?
- Business obligations: For some business owners (but not others, such as farmers or landscapers) or business professionals, work slows in the Spring, and in particular, Summer months, because of the nature of the business owner’s business market or in larger companies, families take Summer vacations with their children and the overall business market and work demands slow. This may make it the best time for you to start the divorce process. Is this your situation?
Depending on how you answer these questions, a Spring/Summer divorce filing and its litigation may be the best time for your divorce. On the other hand, it might be the wrong time, recognizing there is never the perfect time because divorce is a hard and emotionally tolling process. The takeaway from this blog is when you are contemplating a divorce, the timing should be what makes sense for you, not what you might traditionally believe is the norm for filing a divorce. Divorce is a complex process and the more you think about your relationship and how it unwinds, the smoother the process is likely to be. Is this time of year right for you?
This blog was written by attorneys at Dixon & Moseley, P.C. who handle divorce cases of all types throughout the state. This blog is written for general educational purposes. It is not intended as legal advice or a solicitation for services. It is an advertisement.
