Divorce lawyers across the country are experiencing a deluge of instructions as Christmas proves to be the last straw for thousands of marriages.

 

According to exclusive  research commissioned by InsideDivorce.com, the first full working week of the new year is the busiest time of year for divorce lawyers.

 

Indeed, the surge of enquiries is so marked that throughout the marital law profession that Monday 7th January has become known as D-Day, with the D for divorce.

 

 One of the UK’s leading family lawyers, Susanne Kingston, partner at Dawsons Solicitors, confirms the trend: “We are expecting this to be our busiest day and indeed our busiest week. A stressful Christmas can often be the final nail in the marital coffin.”

 

The statistics make grim reading for anyone believing Christmas is a period of harmony and goodwill.

 

More than 1.8 million couples will have contemplated divorcing their partner during the Christmas period according to the Family Mediation Helpline

 

In a blow to the sentiment “peace to all men”, three-quarters of all divorce proceedings at this time of year are instigated by women.

 

And more infidelities are committed during the Christmas party season than at any other time of year.

 

According to Relate, the UK’s largest provider of relationship support, the trend to kick-start divorce proceedings in January follows on from a 50% surge in the number of calls its centres receive over the festive period.

 

 The results paint a startling picture about the nation’s attitude to modern love. Nearly one in five of all marriages (19%) are on shaky ground – with partners believing they could end up in the divorce courts.

 

Almost half (44%) of those surveyed say their sex lives have fallen flat – and a remarkable one in ten of all marriages are entirely sexless.

 

 By far the biggest cause for divorce proceedings is the discovering of an infidelity – with the Christmas party season being the peak time for cheating. Around two in every five (42%) blamed a partner’s affair for them contacting a lawyer, with almost half of all women citing infidelity as the main reason for marriage breakdown.

 

Of those, more than half (54%) discovered the affair themselves, one fifth of unfaithful spouses confessed and 4% are told by their partner’s new lover.

 

The second biggest reason to split is abuse (34%), followed simply by boredom – cited by almost one in three (29%) of those polled.   Lack of sex, financial disagreements and alcohol/drug abuse were the next biggest and most prevalent problems.