For the last few years, at the end of the year, I have reprised a very popular post that I did in the early days of this blog about the New Year’s Resolution Divorce. We sometimes joke that the early part of the year is “the busy season.” In fact, earlier this year, Robert Epstein blogged that March was found to be the peak time for divorce filings.
In our experience, the end of the summer/early fall is the second busy season (I’m sure that the nearness in time to the Jewish New Year is purely coincidental.) These are some of the reasons that we think or have heard this occurs:
- We got through the summer which should be a happy time for the kids, and if we file now, there is a chance to be done by next summer. As such, if kids have to move or change schools, it is not during the school year.
- The long awaited summer vacation was miserable -not because of the location or accomodations – but because of the company. As such, tensions are exacerbated instead of relieved.
- Like New Year’s Resolutions, the end of the summer represents the beginning of the school year, the new football season, the new TV season (at least in the old days), back to school sales, etc. I am reasonably sure that the same reason that people seek the fresh start at New Years is also true here.
- If the marriage is shaky, spending so much time together could make it worse, as the reasons that it is shaky hit you in the face over and over during this time.
- One spouse wont help out with the children on family vacations. This reminds the other spouse that he/she doesn’t help out during the rest of the year either. If he doesn’t even want to be with the kids on vacation, why are we staying together?
I am sure that there are may more reasons for this phenomena. Whatever the reason, we await those who see the fall as a chance for happiness or a fresh start – or at the very least, for a chance to make next summer happy.
_________________________________________________________
Eric Solotoff is the editor of the New Jersey Family Legal Blog and the Co-Chair of the Family Law Practice Group of Fox Rothschild LLP. Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Matrimonial Lawyer and a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Attorneys, Eric is resident in Fox Rothschild’s Roseland and Morristown, New Jersey offices though he practices throughout New Jersey. You can reach Eric at (973)994-7501, or esolotoff@foxrothschild.com.