Column: You've made it through Divorce Day - now the next stop is Valentine's

There’s something that happens at the start of a year that’s less fun than the other festivities. The first Monday of January is called Divorce Day.

It’s the day when law firms see a spike in couples applying to get divorced. There are many reasons for this phenomenon. It’s assumed that the time together over Christmas is often the final straw that makes people want a break.

This is why also celebrate the first Tuesday in January, which is National Finally Be Yourself Day. You have no idea how much effort I put in over Christmas to make sure I’m not my usual annoying self. If I am tolerable up to the first Monday of the year, I’m clear for another 12 months.

It’s also worth doing your research to see what issues are commonly raised by divorcing couples.

There’s been an increase in what they call silver splitter. These are people getting divorced later in life and apparently it’s caused by retirement. A relationship can work when you hardly see each other but there comes a time when you are around the house together more.

That is a perfect opportunity to discover that you can’t stand each other. I’m less worried about this because they will keep raising the age of retirement. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to stop work but that means I’ll never be around the house enough to be annoying. How’s that for finding a silver lining?

The lesson from silver splitters at Divorce Day is that spending time with your partner is the kiss of death for a marriage. We were always told that absence makes the heart grow fonder, which I suppose is the nicer way to phrase it.

If this is true, we have to worry about the increase in working from home. After the pandemic more people learned that they could spare themselves the commute to the office and do their work on a laptop on the kitchen table.

It seems to be a better way to live. You don’t have to waste your time sat in busy traffic or crammed into a full train.

But think of the consequences. If you are at home together more than you are at work you are putting your marriage at risk. How can you work from home when you have to sell it to split your assets in half?

So put in some extra effort. It’s not long until Valentine’s.

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