January is a month for new beginnings. Virginia couples, though, who are struggling through difficult times better be careful: It's also the most popular month for divorce.

The Huffington Post has reported that January is known as "Divorce Month" among attorneys. The online news site cited numbers published by eDivorcePapers.com which found that January does indeed boast the most divorces.

The Post story even quotes a divorce consultant who says that her own husband left her in that same month. Another legal source told the Post that attorneys often take the last two weeks of December off to prepare for the increased divorce workload in January.

According to the Post, unhappy husbands and wives start actively searching for divorce information immediately after the holidays. The holiday season, in fact, might be one reason why divorce rates do spike in January. During the holidays, couples are often too busy buying presents for their children, attending parties and making family travel plans to think as much about their struggling relationships.

Once the holidays end, though, so do the distractions. The problems in a marriage bubble back up to the forefront.

Other times, spouses turn to divorce in January as a way to begin a fresh start. As the Huffington Post story says, they don't want to suffer through another unhappy year in their marriages.

Whatever the reasons, it appears true that January is the coldest month of the year for marriages. This is one relationship myth that has more than a bit of truth to it.

Source: Huffington Post, "January: More Divorces Than Any Other Month?" Meghan Beresford, Jan. 4, 2011