12 NEWS MONDAY DECEMBER 29 2014 ADVERTISER.COM.AU

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COUPLES are turning NewYear’s Eve parties into lawyers’picnics, with more heading toSplitsville than on any otherday of the year.

Lawyers and relationshipexperts say the traditional dayof celebration is also the onethat brings the most heartache,and warn excessive drinkingmakes bad situations worse.

Adelaide family law expertMegan Dansie said couplesoften decide to stay togetherfor Christmas, especially ifthey have children.

“But once those festivitiesare over and they face theprospect of summer holidaystogether, it all becomes a bitmuch,” she said.

“We see a real spike in in-quiries throughout Januarywhich then leads into the sec-ond most popular time to call itquits, which is as soon as thechildren go back to school.Women in particular come injust after school comes back.”

Ms Dansie, the head of fam-ily law at Duncan BasheerHannon, said there were twiceas many divorce proceedingsin the UK in January than inany other month.

“I would say it would besimilar here,” she said.

“There’s probably morepressures in Australia than inthe UK because we have thelong summer holidays andpeople are home from work forlonger .

“There certainly can besome nasty (break-ups), es-pecially if alcohol is involved.”

Tindall Gask Bentley part-ner Jane Miller, an accreditedfamily law specialist, said peo-ple often decided in the latterpart of the year that they want-ed to end their relationships,but waited until after Christ-mas to break the bad news totheir partners.

“We see a lot of clients whoare thinking of separating andlooking to find out what wouldhappen if they do,” Ms Millersaid.

Ms Miller said in addition togiving legal advice, lawyerscould refer people to relation-ship, personal or financialcounselling.

She said the end of schoolholidays brought a differentkind of legal problem – of par-ents who have had temporarycustody of children refusing toreturn them.

Relationships Australia SA

counselling practice managerSue Man urged couples not tobuy into the “myth” that every-one else was happier and torecognise many people felt“the ups and downs of every-day life” more acutely at thistime of year.

“Excessive use of alcoholcan be a contributor to peoplesaying or doing things that areout of character but are verydifficult to repair or come backfrom,” she said.

Ms Man advised couples toseek help “well before prob-

lems get out of hand”. She saidthe Federal Government of-fered $200 subsidies towardcounselling.

READ MORE: HOW DEMANDING A MARRIAGE PROPOSAL CANBACKFIRE ADVERTISER.COM.AU

New Year’s Eve flashpoint for couples to call it quitsTIM WILLIAMS

THE son of former Queens-land premier Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen will lead the PalmerUnited Party into next year’sstate election.

Palmer United Party federalleader Clive Palmer confirmedJohn Bjelke-Petersen will re-place Alex Douglas, who quitthe party earlier this year.

Mr Palmer said Mr Bjelke-Petersen was the obvious can-didate for the leadership.

Mr Bjelke-Petersen quit theLiberal National Party earlierthis year, citing disgust at alack of support by the NewmanGovernment for regionalQueensland.

Sir Joh’s son to lead PUP

POLICE are investigating aftera suspicious fire on the frontporch of a northern suburbshome yesterday.

The residents at the VincentSt, Paralowie, home called forhelp after discovering the fireabout 1am. Firefighters man-aged to stop it from spreadingbeyond the front veranda.

Crime scene investigatorsexamined the home early yes-terday morning and believe theblaze was deliberately lit.

Neither of the two occu-pants sustained injuries. Any-one with information shouldcontact Crime Stoppers.

Fire seen as ‘suspicious’

TIPS TO AVOID BREAK-UPS■ Notice when you are be-coming overwhelmed and letthe people around you knowhow you are feeling.■ If possible, take yourself out

of stressful social situationsand do something to reducetension such as taking a walk. ■ Take responsibility for shar-ing the load with your partner.

■ Avoid comparisons withother couples or families.■ Avoid excessive alcohol.SOURCE: RELATIONSHIPSAUSTRALIA

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