The holiday season is upon us, and many in Texas are already on the verge of being overwhelmed with parties, shopping, decorating and working out a strategy for making the rounds of family gatherings. For those who are considering filing for divorce, the holidays can be even more stressful. It is a common practice for unhappy spouses to wait until after the holidays to move forward with a divorce, for a number of reasons.
For one thing, the holidays are stressful enough without adding another layer of anxiety to the mix. Family obligations, financial strain and forced togetherness can make the span between Thanksgiving and New Year’s difficult, even for happy couples. To announce a divorce as these events near is simply too much for many spouses to handle. Instead, they choose to weather one more holiday season as a couple, before moving forward with divorce early in the coming year.
This strategy can be useful for more than simply avoiding unpleasantness. Savvy spouses will make use of the extra weeks to gather all of the documents that they need to process the end of a marriage. In addition, many couples will receive one or more holiday bonus checks, which can be put to use paying down debt. This can significantly simplify the financial aspects of a divorce.
Postponing a divorce filing is a difficult decision to make. However, when the holidays loom it is often the path of least resistance, and one that thousands of couples take each and every year. Smart Texas spouses will take advantage of the weeks ahead to ensure they are in the best possible position to move forward with a divorce filing once the festivities of the season fade.
Source: Huffington Post, That Special Time of Year: Holidays Mean Waiting to Divorce, Morghan Leia Richardson, Nov. 19, 2013