Millennials are waiting longer to get married, and by the time they do, they are established in their careers, traveled and already even bought a house – together or separately.
This extra life experience could be one of the reasons the divorce rates have been falling, at least for new marriages.

Ask any couple you know and most of them will exhale a sigh of relief once the wedding planning process is completely over. In fact, after so much chaos bundled into one 24-hour day (or OK, 72-hour weekend), most twosomes look forward to settling into their married, normal life and back into the routines that brought them closer as a couple — like ya know, watching Netflix and not worrying about seating arrangements. But once that stressful, yet romantic, period has come to a close, relationships also focus another challenge: the first year of marriage.

Divorce lawyer and author Jacqueline Newman talks why this time of year is known as “Divorce Season,” and why the wealthy often have different issues to contend with than others.

It’s divorce season. 

The antithesis to December’s engagement season, divorce filings begin to spike in January, peaking in February and March.

But it’s not the gloomy weather that does couples in. It’s the post-holiday jolt back to reality that has them questioning their future together.

While they’re trying to keep up with their New Year’s resolutions, hitting the gym and eating salads, many are also (secretly) visiting a divorce lawyer’s office to see if they want to proceed with a split—and often their partner never finds out. It’s called “considering my options month.”

Just because you’re not divorced, doesn’t mean they weren’t looking into it.

Believe it or not, January has been dubbed Divorce Month by relationship experts, no doubt because it comes at a time when folks are reassessing their life choices, and when the word “clean slate” keeps popping up more than at any other time of the year.
“January is divorce month, because psychologically people want to start the new year with new beginnings,” explains Jacqueline Newman, managing partner at a New York-based law firm that specializes in divorce cases.

I just finished Soon-to-be-Ex, a Guide to the Perfect Divorce and Relaunch, nothing less than a tour de force by Manhattan’s titan of divorce, lawyer Jacqueline Newman.

So far as I can tell, she’s the go-to-gal for divorcing Upper East Side New Yorkers (meaning the rich ones) – the book written especially for women. The brilliant and sometimes hilarious book systematically describes how to destroy your spouse in court, as well as guiding you through the treacherous terrain of what she calls “Divorceland”.

According to a recent report, January is the biggest month of the year for couples filing for divorce.
“January is usually seen as divorce month, and part of the reason being is that a lot of people want to start the year off fresh,” Manhattan divorce lawyer Jacqueline Newman said. “You’re in the holidays, and the idea of getting a divorce stuffed in your stocking is not something anybody wants.”

The second episode of the Fordham IPLJ Podcast tackles the Brangelina Divorce with a prominent divorce attorney Jacqueline Newman. The unthinkable happened last week, when Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie decided to split up. Amidst reports of Pitt’s infidelity and possible domestic abuse towards the couple’s children, the IPLJ Podcast attempts to sift through the reports and predict the way the legal split will play out.

Suppose you are divorcing and seeking sole custody of your kids. Now suppose your spouse is accused of child abuse. Who do you think is in the better negotiating position when the divorce lawyers sit down to dicker?

Even non-lawyers can see the answer is obvious. This hypothetical situation may not be so hypothetical in the increasingly poisonous pending divorce of Hollywood icons Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.