Every January, divorce filings rise. The phenomenon is real enough that it is known among many divorce lawyers and courts as the January divorce spike.
What’s mostly fiction is the story people tell themselves about why January is the right moment to file.
The popular narrative goes like this: the holidays are over, emotions have settled, and it’s time for a clean slate. In practice, January often produces the opposite: rushed decisions driven by exhaustion, resentment, and a mistaken belief that timing itself creates leverage.
January does not make a divorce cleaner, easier, or faster. Courts don’t reset in the new year. Judges aren’t more sympathetic. The rules do not soften because someone feels “ready now.”
What does happen in January is the same as before January. School is back in session. Work pressure returns. Temporary holiday truces expire. Informal arrangements that felt tolerable in December suddenly feel untenable. That discomfort gets misread as clarity.
Summoning the will and the courage to file for divorce when divorce is needed is laudable. But filing before you are prepared can weaken damage your case.
“Starting fresh” is not a legal event. Preparation is.
For many people, the smartest January move is not filing—it’s resolving to start preparing fully and resolving to have preparations complete before filing. Gathering information. Understanding your finances. Thinking through child custody in real, week-by-week terms (taking holidays and summer and family traditions into account). Documenting patterns that matter and ignoring those that don’t. Getting competent advice before asserting your position.
January can be a turning point, but that works best when you take the time and care to choose direction deliberately. The law rewards preparation far more than it rewards enthusiasm.
Utah Family Law, LC | divorceutah.com | 801-466-9277