The summer holidays can be a magical time for families to make memories, go on trips and spend uninterrupted quality time together.

However, in our experience, the school summer holidays can often be the final straw for relationships that have been fragile for some time.

It’s been well researched and documented that parents often experience an increase in domestic arguments during the summer months, which in turn may lead them to becoming disillusioned with their relationship and to question its long-term viability.

End of the school holidays is one of the busiest times for Family Lawyers

Outside of post-Christmas enquiries in January, the end of the school summer holidays can actually be one of the busiest times for Family Lawyers. At Johnson Legal Family Law, we have identified clearly defined patterns of divorce and separation peaks during the first three months of the year and then in August and September.

The peak in the early months of the year relates to the accumulated emotional, financial and familial stresses of the Christmas period. After the Christmas holidays this year, Johnson Legal saw a 35% increase in website visits and a 45% increase in divorce and separation enquiries.

The August and September increase relates to the challenges and pressures of families spending so much time together alongside balancing childcare during the holidays. In August 2022, our client enquiries increased by up to 30% while online visits to our divorce and separation webpages are between 10% and 20% higher during this month.

With childcare fees growing faster than both wages and inflation, it’s little wonder so many parents feel additional pressure.

In addition, couples can often invest so much in a summer holiday, both emotionally and financially, that if it doesn’t live up to expectation, and becomes fraught with practical challenges – from bad weather, delayed flights or substandard accommodation – this can serve to only further expose the fractures which are already placing strain on the relationship.

Once the school holidays come to a close, we often receive a stream of new enquiries

During the school holidays, we generally receive less new separation and divorce enquiries as parents are often conscious of ensuring children are looked after, that there’s a structure and routine in place while the kids are off school and there’s planned holidays arrangements that are usually booked months in advance.

Once the school holidays start coming to a close, this is generally when we start to see a stream of new enquiries coming through. However, this doesn’t mean that parties haven’t been thinking about separating for some time, the end of the holidays often means they are more ready to start the process.

Ensure you get the right legal advice as early as possible

We know there will be many couples who decide to separate and need some support with what comes next.

If the summer holidays have been proving challenging for you and you’ve been considering a separation or divorce, getting the right legal advice early on helps to ensure that informed choices can be made and avoids a contentious, hostile separation.

We offer all our clients a free, 15-minute consultation call with one of our Solicitors to determine how we can help. Call our office on  0131 622 8477, email [email protected] or submit your enquiry here