Divorce and the Holiday Season
Posted By Long Island Divorce Attorney on Dec 26, 2010 4:28pm PST
Reality is not a Norman Rockwell painting - it is not all hot chocolate, mistletoe and gift wrapping. Reality involves the #1 cause of divorce, money.
If you are fighting about money, the best way to handle it is to grab all your financial statements (bank, credit cards, etc.) and head to your accountant and ask them to come up with a plan to pay down the debt based on your income and to determine a reasonable monthly budget - and even a holiday spending budget
However, if one spouse is used to a certain lifestyle and not willing to change, this will put additional stress on the spouse willing to change and the marriage itself. When this happens, fights happen and the marriage begins to break down - being around the holidays makes it even harder as people think they must ‘overspend’.
If you are considering divorce and it is the holiday time, you have to ensure that, if you have children, you make sure it does not affect their celebrations. You must consider the best interests of the children. If you are upset about money or gifts or traditions, stop and ask yourself how fighting about this will impact the future memories you had hoped to create for your children. Should you actually go through a divorce, the court will always admonish that you must keep their best interests in mind - therefore, by doing so during a tumultuous holiday season, you can begin to practice for when your divorce is in full swing.
In the months immediately after the holidays, we receive a tremendous influx of calls. This is not a coincidence as most couples who are thinking of splitting usually do not want to start a divorce during the period between Halloween and New Year’s. Being served divorce papers while passing the stuffing at Thanksgiving dinner is not everyone’s idea of the perfect holiday. As a result, once January hits, the divorce rate goes through the roof.
If you are considering divorce around the holidays, make sure you make the right decision and contact The Kepanis Law Firm, P.C. immediately.