This holiday season may be filled with the usual delights and stresses of buying gifts, hosting and seeing extended family. But for some married couples, it also is a time of stress because they’re contemplating whether to divorce in the new year.
One study from the University of Washington found that March is a peak month for divorce filings. And two divorce attorneys told CNN they see a surge of new clients coming in as early as January inquiring about next steps.
“They are waiting for the holidays to be over,” said Kristen Shearin, a North Carolina-based divorce litigator, mediator and certified divorce financial analyst.
Given how financially fraught splitting up is, couples considering divorce might take a few steps now to prepare for what will happen if they do call it quits. Among them:
“Every state is different in terms of how they deal with separation and divorce,” said Lina Guillen, a divorce attorney who wrote the book Divorce and Money for NOLO, a publisher of plain-English legal information.
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