Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio, Hey brain Stuff, Lauren bog Obam. Here a new year. Time to firm up those resolutions, pair down possessions, eat more vegetables,
and get divorced. Research commissioned by a UK based law firm called Cooperative Legal Services suggested that as of January brought an over three increase in divorce proceedings over the previous four months, and USA Today reported in twenty nineteen the the topic of divorce peaked on Google trends the week of January six through the twelve, at the dawn of a new year. It seems couples who have kept
the peace during holiday festivities can wait no longer. Come January one, they're ready to take official action towards marriage dissolution. But it seems that it isn't the hoopla of the holidays that breaks the camels back. More likely, the leapen divorce inquiries is the result of a collective agreement to put off the big announcement until after the kids have opened their presence and all the grandparents, aunts and uncles have returned to their respective homes. The aforementioned law firm
also commissioned a survey of five hundred divorces. The results found that of couples beginning divorce proceedings in January had already planned to call it quits long before the ball dropped. For the article, this episode is based on How Stuff Works. Spoke with Sam Hickman back in she was the head of family law for Cooperative Legal Services at the time. She explained many will have sought legal advice before the Christmas break and then chosen to move their separation forward
in the new year. According to the survey's results, of respondents who didn't announce divorce proceedings until after the holidays said they didn't want to dampen the festivities. A third of those couples wanted to have quote one Mass Christmas as a family a all. Another third side of day lack of public confirmation as their reason for keeping mum, didn't want to upset family members with the news, and nine percent didn't want to spoil a child's birthday that
fell around the holidays. Hickman said many couples, especially those with children, do not want to cause unnecessary upheaval over the festive period. They don't want the children distressed. However, it seems that January is actually the peak for divorce inquiries of rather than actual filings. A different survey conducted by the University of Washington, looking at fourteen years of data, found that March and August were both peak times for
divorce filings. The divorce process does take some time, so while filings did begin to climb in January, March was the peak month. And what about August? The researchers believed parents may have wanted their children to have a good summer experience before filing for divorce, or maybe the big summer tripp didn't live up to expectations, increasing the disillusionment of the spouses with their marriage. They may have wanted to file before the start of the new school year.
That's similar to how others filed at the start of calendar year. The August spike was almost at the level of the March peak. Hickman said, I don't think that there is a right time to file for divorce in the vast majority of cases. It is distressing news for any family at any time. Today's episode is based on the article is January really the biggest month for divorces? On how Stuff Works dot Com, written by Lauree L. Dove.
The brain Stuff is production of iHeart Radio in partnership with how stuff works dot Com, and it's produced by Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.