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About Divorce Day

A name the UK press uses for the first working Monday of January, and what it really shows.

When is it?

Divorce Day falls on the first working Monday of January. The next one is on Monday 4 January 2027. After that: Monday 4 January 2027, Monday 10 January 2028 and Monday 8 January 2029.

We use the bank holidays for England and Wales. If New Year’s Day falls on a Monday, or a weekend moves the bank holiday to Monday 2 or 3 January, Divorce Day is the Monday after. That is why it falls on Monday 10 January in 2028.

Where does the name come from?

Divorce Day is not an official day, and nobody owns it. It is a name used by the UK press and by family law firms for the first Monday back at work after Christmas.

Family law firms report a surge in divorce and separation enquiries at the start of January. Birkett Long, for example, describes it as the day family lawyers see “a surge in divorce and separation enquiries”. The firm also says enquiries rise again in September, after the school summer holidays.

What does it really show?

The rise is in enquiries: people searching, reading and asking a lawyer for the first time. It is not a rush of people filing for divorce.

The Law Society Gazette made this point plainly. Writing in the Gazette, family lawyer Jo Edwards said that online divorce searches surge in January and lead to more enquiries to law firms, but that searches and enquiries do not always lead to a divorce being started soon afterwards, if at all. She looked at the court figures and found that divorce petitions were spread fairly evenly across the year, concluding: “None of this supports the suggestion of a January spike.”

The latest Ministry of Justice figures tell a similar story. January to March is usually the busiest quarter for divorce applications, but only by a modest amount. See The Divorce Day Report for the figures.

Who runs this site?

Divorce Day has no official organiser, and we do not claim to have started it. This site is the home of Divorce Day, run by Digital Alchemy FZ-LLC, a company based in Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates.

We are not a law firm and we do not give legal or financial advice. We publish plain, checked information, point people to free help, and work with a small number of organisations that support people through separation. All partner content is clearly labelled as sponsored. Our First steps and Free support pages are never sponsored.

If you have a question about the site, please get in touch.

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