Ask a tax accountant to name her busiest time of year, and she’ll likely tell you it’s the weeks leading up to April 15. Ask a bookkeeper, and you’ll hear about the crunch time towards the end of the fiscal year. For people in the wedding business, it’s June. And for family law attorneys and other divorce professionals? Well, they know to expect the phone to ring off the hook in January. In fact, the upsurge in divorce filings with the New Year is so pronounced that the first business day of January is sometimes called “Divorce Monday.”
It’s easy to imagine why this would be the case – the New Year brings many of us renewed determination to pursue a healthier, happier path. With December in the rearview mirror, unhappy couples who’ve been holding out through family gatherings and holiday hoopla are ready to – at last! – get on with their lives. Maybe last year’s resolution was to give the marriage another try, and now this year’s is to put it out of its misery.
There are some good reasons to initiate divorce proceedings in January; however, there are some potentially serious drawbacks, as well. Let’s go through some of the most notable pros and cons.
In the pro column:
- New Year, New You.
There’s a lot to be said for capitalizing on the momentum that the New Year brings with it. It’s a clean slate, a new beginning. Many people find the turn of the calendar is a healthy motivator, bringing new energy to efforts to improve their lives. If you know your marriage is broken beyond repair, why not channel that energy into planning for a fresh start?
- Holidays are history.
There’s no denying the stress of the holiday season. From Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day, many families are fully caught up in planning, decorating, shopping, travel, services, and ceremonies, and all manner of special gatherings with colleagues, friends, and relatives. There’s just no time to call the lawyer, on top of everything else – not to mention that important holidays might not be the best time to break disruptive news to family and friends. For many people, waiting until January makes good sense for the rhythm of family life.
- Year-end income has been documented and deposited.
When it becomes clear that divorce is imminent, spouses shift their focus away from the marriage and toward surviving the divorce with their finances intact. This is when many husbands take measures to keep from having to divide assets in a divorce settlement agreement. Hiding assets is underhanded, illegal, and, unfortunately, very common.
So, if you initiate your divorce before the end of the year, your husband might conveniently arrange not to receive an annual bonus that usually comes through in December. Instead, he could have it put off until after the divorce is final – when he wouldn’t have to share it with you. For high-earning couples, that year-end bonus can be significant – and as marital income, it is absolutely subject to division in divorce.
Filing for divorce in January makes good financial sense because by then, it’s likely any year-end income will have been received and properly documented.
Here are the cons:
- It could be a reactionary move.
The holidays can be a stressful and emotionally fraught time even in the strongest of marriages. Be sure the dust has settled from all of that before calling it quits. It’s one thing to have decided that you will be divorcing, then hold off until the New Year to begin legal proceedings. It’s quite another to reach that conclusion in January, with your judgment potentially clouded by winter doldrums or the events of December. If you’re filing in January, be sure it’s for the right reasons.
- You might not be ready (even if you think you are).
This is the single most important “con,” and I can’t stress this enough: All the New Year’s energy on earth won’t make it a good idea to file for divorce in January if you aren’t properly prepared. Granted, you might feel beyond ready for a new life without your husband, but that’s not what I mean. I’m talking about being properly financially prepared for the divorce process.
In order to be properly prepared, you need to:
- assemble your financial paperwork
- assess your credit and open new bank accounts in your name alone
- have enough money to pay for your divorce, and
- assemble your divorce team.
I urge you to check out my earlier article, (Soon-to-be) Divorcing Women: What Are You Waiting For? Here’s How To Prepare To File, for a more detailed discussion of these four critical steps.
Remember: Even though you may see many “pros” to filing in January, none of them outweigh proper preparation. The best time of year to file for divorce is the time when you’re truly prepared to get through divorce in the best financial shape possible.
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Jeff Landers is the author of the Think Financially, Not Emotionally® series of best-selling books on the financial aspects of divorce for women including, Divorce: Think Financially, Not Emotionally® - What Women Need To Know About Securing Their Financial Future Before, During, And After Divorce.
Blog posts are for informational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice.
