How Long Will a Divorce Take?

By Grable Grimshaw PLLC | January 28, 2021

You may be wondering how long your divorce will take. When you’re just dating, it’s fairly simple to break up and get a clean start, allowing you to move on with your life relatively quickly. However, the legal process for ending a marriage takes a while, and you are still technically married during that process.

How long will it take until you can expect to move forward with your life?

Simplicity matters

There’s no easy answer to this question, as there is not a set timeline for every divorce. You can anticipate that it will take at least a few months, but the big thing to consider is how simple your divorce will be. The less you have to deal with, the faster it goes.

Some factors that can make it take notably longer include:

  • Having a lot of assets that you need to divide
  • Having children together and needing to make numerous custody decisions
  • Disagreeing on a lot of key issues, which then take time to sort out
  • Having a spouse who drags their feet or does not sign paperwork promptly
  • Needing extra time to find the funds for your divorce
  • Making mistakes in the legal process while filing paperwork

If your divorce is simple and if you and your spouse can cooperate on the issues that matter, the process can be relatively fast. You’re still looking at months of your time, but not years.

If your divorce gets complex and confrontational, though, that changes everything. Either way, you must know what steps to take to minimize your problems and maximize your positive outcome.

Posted in Divorce