Divorce Waiting Period

How Long Does It Take to Get Divorced?

That depends.

The More You Fight, The Longer It Takes

You and your spouse are in control of this. The attorneys also play a role in prolonging or expediting.

It’s mostly you and your spouse though. It’s YOUR family. YOUR money. And YOUR assets and debts.

If you guys cannot reach an agreement on ANYTHING, you will need to go to Court over and over and over, and have your fate be decided by the Judge.

How Much Will the Divorce Cost?

Again, that depends on YOU. Most attorneys charge by the hour.

See Divorce Attorneys Charge Per Hour and How Much Is a Divorce?

Divorce Waiting Period

Divorce waiting period is a time randomly selected by the California Legislature for potential reconciliation. The law is California Family Code 2339 (a), which states: “…No judgment of dissolution is final for the purpose of terminating the marriage relationship of the parties until six months have expired from the date of service of a copy of summons and petition or the date of appearance of the respondent, whichever occurs first.”

5 Steps

In an uncontested divorce, there are roughly 5 steps to the Divorce Papers.

First is filing the Petition for Dissolution.

Second is serving it on the other side. (I recommend being civil on this, NEVER ambush your ex with divorce papers they didn’t know were coming.)

Third is filing the Response.

Fourth is Exchanging Mandatory Preliminary Declarations of Disclosures.

Fifth is filing the Stipulated Judgment.

The waiting period STARTS from step 2 (service on other side) OR step 3 (filing of Response).

Minimum Waiting Period 6 Months

You may have heard somewhere that it takes “6 months” to get a divorce.

WRONG. That is the MINIMUM. Meaning, even if you have already settled, drafted papers and filed, and the Judge has already signed, you still must wait 6 months from the date of service of the Petition (the first filing).

In divorce mediation, this is entirely possible. However, if you are litigating, it will be VERY difficult to obtain Judgment within the minimum time period.