Research has shown repeatedly that August divorce filings are common. What’s so triggering about this time of year? For many people, a hazy, lazy summer is coming to an end – for others, this season was full of hot tempers and last hurrahs.
1. Couples Have Spent Too Much Time Together
Already strained unions may find themselves even more stressed out by being forced to spend more time together in summer. Vacations, visits to family, reunions, and long weekends are the things of summer. If you’re together for an excessive amount and forced to share intimate spaces, you are guaranteed to get on each other’s nerves.
2. The Last Hurrah Was a Bust
Some couples who recognize that their marriage is on its last legs use summer as an opportunity to see if they can make their union work, whether for the history they have together or for the sake of the kids. While admirable, this effort to recapture the magic or relive happy memories is often fruitless and the good times cannot be repeated successfully. The extra time together trying to bond ends in a split.
3. You’re On Your Best Behavior… Until You’re Not
Because summers are always jampacked with activities, some struggling couples are willing to make the best of it. They put on a happy face in front of family and friends. They say yes to too many things just to look like they’re a united front. And, by the time August rolls around, they’re burnt out from trying to force their marriage to work.
4. Summers Are Demanding
If you have children and they’re busy with friends, sports, and other summertime activities, your typical school-year pick-up and drop-off schedule can be pushed to the brink. The parent who does the majority of the caregiving or who is the one in charge of arranging schedules and making sure everyone is where they’re supposed to be may finally reach a breaking point. They don’t feel supported, have not felt that way for a long time, and summer has underlined this stark point. Marriage, over. August divorce, begun.
5. Your Kids Are Gone
Did the youngest finally go off to college? When you officially have an empty nest, it may be clear immediately how little you and your partner still have in common. Do you have different goals for the next decades of your lives? Do you want to spend retirement together? Have you just been sticking it out for the kids? When the last baby bird goes flying away, the marriage nest may quickly crumble after it.
6. It’s a Good Time to Call It Quits
Some people choose an August divorce filing time because they didn’t want to ruin their family’s summer – but they also don’t want to ruin their Thanksgiving or Christmas. Filing for divorce at this time of year gives the kids an opportunity to get used to the idea of split-up holidays and gives you time to get some of the hard work of divorce prep out of the way before you must prep for the holidays.
If you are ready to file for divorce, contact a Michigan divorce lawyer at Michigan Divorce Help. Contact us to schedule your free initial consultation.