How Long Does It Take to Get Divorced?~4 min read

When a prospective client first meets with an attorney, a common question asked is how long it will take to get divorced. Although that is a great question and one that is often weighing on the client’s mind, unfortunately, the answer is “it depends.” Some divorces are completed in a couple of months, and some divorces are completed in a couple of years. Here are some of the factors that can impact the time it takes to get divorced:

1. Whether the parties can reach an agreement on their parenting issues pretty early in the process.
   • Either on their own or with the help of legal counsel or a trained mediator, many divorcing couples are able to create a parenting plan pretty quickly in the divorce process. Contested parenting issues can cause a divorce case to remain unresolved for a long time, as the Court cannot issue a divorce decree until the parenting issues are resolved, either by agreement or by the Judge. Try to focus on the Parenting Plan early in the process.
2. Whether the parties are cooperative in producing the necessary documents to enable both parties to be fully informed about their finances.
   • When one or both parties is unwilling to provide full disclosure and complete documentation to the other, the divorce process can be delayed for many months, if not more. The failure or refusal to provide complete financial information often requires a party to file multiple motions which results in hearings being scheduled, costing significant legal fees and time. Try to cooperate fully with your spouse to produce all needed financial information.
3. Whether both parties have attorneys.
   • If both parties have attorneys, it is often easier to focus on the disputes needing resolution earlier in the process, exchanging documents cooperatively, and agreeing to participate in private mediation. As a result, agreements can be reached faster than if a Judge had to be involved. If one party has a lawyer and the other party does not, the party without a lawyer can be difficult to get information from and difficult to discuss resolution with. In our experience, this is often because the party is scared or worried about doing something wrong, and so the party does nothing, or takes a long time to finally agree to participate in the process.
4. Whether the assets are complicated.
   • Although many couples have assets that are simple and straightforward, like a house and a 401k plan, some couples have assets that are more complicated, like businesses, inherited assets or RSUs (restricted stock units). More complicated assets often require more time to get resolved. Sometimes it is because more information or more professional financial guidance is needed. However, sometimes the inability to reach agreement on the asset division is emotionally based, in that a spouse does not want to divide the home he/she inherited from his/her family or divide his/her business.
5. The Court is backlogged.
   • As there are a lot of pending divorce and parenting cases, and a shortage of Judges, often times the length of time it takes to get divorced is due to the Court’s backlog. In October of 2026, many Courts are telling us that our case may not be scheduled for final hearing until 2028! Therefore, anything you can do to stay out of the Court system would be a benefit. Also, anything you can do to resolve some or most of the issues will reduce the amount of time you need for a final hearing. A shorter final hearing could result in a final hearing being scheduled sooner. If you have not yet filed, or if you recently filed and are concerned about these lengthy delays, you may want to explore whether a Collaborative Divorce or private mediation would be appropriate processes for you and your spouse. These processes will reduce the amount of Court involvement needed which means typically a faster divorce.

The family law attorneys at Parnell, Michels & McKay have a tremendous amount of knowledge and experience and can help you work through all of the issues, as quickly as is possible. If you are interested in learning more about divorce, Collaborative Divorce, or private mediation, please contact us to learn more.