December or January Divorce?

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Can’t stand living with your spouse for another minute?  Don’t want to start another year with him or her?  Geoff Williams, Reuters, writes on NBCNEWS.Com today that it may be to your advantage to wait a few days until January to file for divorce.  He gives these reasons:

1. Year End Bonuses.  In Virginia, the date for determining marital assets is the date of separation.  In Maryland and DC, it is the trial date, but the court can take into consideration assets acquired after separation.  So you may want to time your separation, depending on whether you or your spouse is receiving the year end bonus.

2.  Emotions.  If your spouse remembers that you ruined Christmas, that may make it harder to settle.

3.  Shopping.  Your credit card bill may be higher in January if your spouse decides to get even with you by shopping.

4. Taxes.  If taxes go up in 2013, you may get a bigger deduction for paying alimony or have higher taxes for receiving it.

5. Planning.  Use the year end to start gathering and organizing all the financial information and documents you are going to need for your divorce.

I guess Ashton Kutcher didn’t read the article.  He filed for divorce from Demi Moore on Friday.