The lawyers said the end of summer is rivaled only by the close of the Christmas season for amount of annual divorces, ABC News reported Tuesday.

"Every year, it's like clockwork," said Gaetano Ferro, president of the Chicago-based American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, said of summer's end. "You know the phone is going to start ringing like crazy that time of year."

Legal experts told ABC that couples often wait for the end of summer or the holidays so they can ensure that family vacations are over and the school year has begun before filing for divorce.

"This is usually the deferral of a decision that's been made months earlier," said James Hennenhoefer, a family law attorney in Vista, Calif.

William Hoge, a divorce lawyer in Louisville, Ky., said the low-stress summer months can help struggling couples forget about their problems -- for a while.

"People think the rules don't apply" in the sultry summer months, Hoge told ABC News, "but it's all over when school starts."