Family Law

Do Divorce Filings Rise Around Valentine's Day?

By J. Benjamin Stevens

All family law attorneys know that the early part of the year is always the busiest.  Some couples hang on through the holidays only to separate to being the new year.  Others wait to use their income tax refunds to finance their divorces.  Filing after the first of the year also enable the spouse to use the other spouse's earnings as reflected on W2s, 1099s, and other tax documents.

So how does Valentine's Day play into this? Do divorce filings really increase around February 14th?   Mark Britton, founder and CEO of Avvo, claims that 'Over the past two years we've seen an average increase of 40 percent in the number of requests for divorce lawyers around Valentine's Day, compared to the previous six months.'  You can read much more about this trend here.

Source:  "Heartbreak! Divorce Filings Rise 40 Percent Around Valentine's Day: Study" by Clemente Lisi, published in the New York Post.

Full post as published by SC Family Law Blog on February 14, 2011 (boomark / email).