It is no surprise that the number of divorce filings made in Buffalo and across the United States increases during the first few months of the year. With the new year comes New Year’s resolutions and, often, ending a bad marriage is first on that list.

But some family law practitioners believe that there is another factor that contributes to the increase in divorce filings in February. The “Valentine’s Effect,” they say, will be responsible for many divorce decisions this month. 

It seems counterintuitive that a holiday focusing on love could instead cause people to contemplate ending their marriage. But that, many say, is the case. This is because Valentine’s Day often forces us to really think about the state of our marriages, and to consider whether they are truly the kind of marriages we want to have. If not, we may decide to file for divorce, resolving not to spend another holiday of love in a loveless marriage.

The statistics support the idea of a “Valentine’s Effect,” family law practitioners say. According to one legal website, the number of site visitors looking for information about divorce generally increases by about 40 percent between New Year’s Day and Valentine’s Day. Interestingly, approximately two-thirds of the people that search the site for divorce attorneys in the days and weeks before Valentine’s Day are women.

Regardless of the time of year, if you have made the difficult decision to file for divorce, there are a few initial things to consider. First, you must decide whether to hire a family law attorney to guide you through the divorce process. Second, you will want to begin gathering information about your financial assets so you can begin the process of dividing them. And third, you must be willing to be patient: divorces can be lengthy, trying processes. But if you achieve happiness in the end, all that time and energy will be well worth it.

Source: MainStreet, “Valentine’s Effect Causes 40% to Explore Divorce,” Juliette Farley, Feb. 12, 2014