All I want for Christmas is...a divorce!

My friend Suzy remembers last Christmas for all the wrong reasons.

All I want for Christmas is...a divorce!

My friend Suzy remembers last Christmas for all the wrong reasons.

It’s fair to say that her husband Dave (I’ve changed their names), came home from the office party a little worse for wear.  And while Suzy was prepared for Dave to be poured out of a taxi and into the marital home, she wasn’t prepared for him to fall into bed in the early hours with sprigs of mistletoe behind his ears. 

She was even less prepared for what were at least several different incidences of lipstick all over his face.  Fifty shades of red, indeed.

Suzy didn’t get much sleep that night, and neither of them got much sleep over the next few either.

Dave maintained that he’d merely over-indulged in high spirits, and while he accepted that he may have crossed one of those blurred lines of fidelity, his main defence was that it was a Christmas party and therefore meaningless silly drunken fun.

Unfortunately Suzy developed all kinds of mental images.  How attractive were the women?  How serious were the women?  Had he enjoyed all that attention?  Might he secretly want to take it further with anyone?  What must people think of her, his wife, while he’s doing that on a night out?

Suzy wasn’t able to file any of her escalating thoughts under ‘meaningless silly drunken fun’.  The pair argued in private all through Christmas; a time traditionally reserved for festive family closeness, which of course made them feel even more wretched.  The pressure of trying to maintain an outwardly happy façade for their friends and family all too quickly drove them further apart.

Sadly, their relationship never recovered.  They separated in June, and now plan to divorce.

In a recent survey commissioned by QualitySolicitors, 52% of people polled said that ‘socialising’ (of one sort or another) is likely to play a part in them considering a divorce over the forthcoming festive period.

More specifically, 21% of people worry about infidelity at a Christmas party, and 14% said that their partner’s online flirting over Christmas would be likely to cause arguments.

Naturally, if it came to it, at QualitySolicitors we’re experts in guiding our clients smoothly and efficiently through a divorce.

But hopefully it might help to know that statistically over 50% of other people worry about some of the festivities-fuelled flirting that many of us indulge in over the Christmas period.

It might even help to prevent you from doing something you might regret later! 

Have a great Christmas, everyone.