DIVORCE lawyers in Southampton are bracing themselves for a surge in married couples planning to split up.

More couples break up in the new year than any other time and figures have revealed that more people file for divorce on a Monday.

Last year Irwin Mitchell’s team in the city saw instructions for divorce soar by 27 per cent compared with the monthly average during the rest of the year, with the year before up by 25 per cent.

The figures suggest that the term Divorce Day, or D-Day, given to the Monday of the first week back to work after the New Year, is sadly true.

Recent research commissioned by Irwin Mitchell revealed that almost one in five married couples were considering staying together over the Christmas period before putting an end to their marriage in January.

The same survey also found that one in four people described themselves as being with their partner for the sake of their children.

Jane Longworth, a specialist divorce and family lawyer at Irwin Mitchell’s Southampton office, said: “Sadly our figures show that the January divorce spike is no myth.

“Every year we see a marked rise in enquiries and instructions in January from people who have decided that the time is right to separate from their partner.

“Many appointments will have been made in December by people who were already planning to start the divorce process in the new year, while others may have had a bad time over the holiday period and realised that they want to make a fresh start in January.

“When we asked couples about stress at Christmas, 42 per cent said that they often ended up arguing in front of their children despite trying not to – this can lead to people evaluating their relationships and making a commitment to themselves to start afresh.”

There are more than 100,000 divorces each year, but with around half of these involving children, Irwin Mitchell says that most clients start the process with an emphasis on separating amicably.

Jane added: “Divorce is much less of a taboo issue in the modern world and there are different ways to separate in a less adversarial way if that’s what both parties want.

“The important thing is that people seek specialist advice to ensure that what they are doing is right for them and especially any children involved.”

Latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show the number of divorces in England and Wales in 2012 was 118,140, an increase of 0.5 per cent since 2011, when there were 117,558 divorces.

In 2012, 10.8 people divorced per 1,000 of the married population, a decrease of 19 per cent compared with 13.3 in 2002. The number of divorces in 2012 was highest among those aged 40 to 44.