January Is “Divorce Month” Red Flags to Look For

According to MarketWatch, there is a 25-30% increase in divorce cases in the month of January.

“January really is divorce month. Now is when people will come in for initial consults to get educated about divorce, and [then] they actually file in the spring,” says New York City attorney Jacqueline Newman. Some clients just want to get through the holidays first, she added. “No one wants a summons in their stocking.”

Financially, some people want to wait to see if there spouse receives any significant year end or holiday bonus. This is money that would probably figure into negotiations.

Watch out for lavish spending or even cutting back. This could mean a divorce in on the horizon. "Spousal support analysis" is what an attorney may do to determine alimony.

“A spouse will set up a lifestyle that they want supported by the other spouse,” Newman says. “They might spend time shopping to show that their lifestyle involves expensive clothing, dinners and theater.”

“A husband might say, ‘We’re not going on vacation this year, no more European trips.’ He’ll start doing things like that so that when they get divorced, he can say, ‘Oh, it was years ago we went on that fancy trip. We don’t do that now.’ ”

If your spouse suddenly starts to care more about his or her appearance, this could be a red flag. All of sudden they want to look good.  Hitting the gym more often, late nights working, business trips and not being able to explain where they may have been.

Another bad sign is if your partner suddenly ceases complaining about you. “When someone stops complaining, and won’t talk to you about any of [their problems], it’s because they’re trying to create distance,” says Newman. “It could be a way to try and protect them and you — so they can rationalize, when the relationship is ending, ‘We weren’t that close anyway.’”

Before you make any life changes, you may want to schedule a weekly date night, just to see if you still even like each other.

I always say, the first year of marriage isn't really the hardest.  The last year can be brutal.

(New York Post)