It’s one of the most frequently asked questions in all of family law: how long does a divorce take? Nothing would satisfy us more than to be able to give a definitive answer to this straightforward question. But truth is that the question simply doesn’t have a finite answer. The real answer to this question is – in Texas, a divorce will take a minimum of 60 days to complete, but the exact amount of time depends on a wide range of factors.
Although this isn’t the finite answer that many people hope to see, we can still give you the information you need to understand the likely range of time for your divorce. As we said, everything depends on the factors, and so here we’d like to discuss a few of the specific factors which impact the length of a divorce in Texas. If you use this information, you can predict with better accuracy how long your divorce will take.
Texas Has a Minimum Length for a Divorce
Perhaps the first thing you should know is that the State of Texas has a minimum length for a divorce. The minimum length is 60 days, and so a divorce cannot be completed faster than 60 days. The first day begins when the initial divorce petition is filed. Simply put, a Texas court will not finalize a divorce until at least 60 days after this initial filing, and so there is actually no such thing as a “quick divorce” in our state.
Many Issues Can Affect the Length of Your Divorce
Although Texas imposes a minimum length of time for a divorce, it doesn’t impose a maximum. There are many, many different things which can impact how long your divorce takes, and understanding these things can really help when it comes to predicting the length of your divorce. Let’s look at a few specific factors which can affect the length of time for a divorce: (1) whether the divorce is contested or uncontested; (2) the issues which need to be resolved; (3) how reasonableness of the opposing party’s attorney; (4) the reasonableness and cooperativeness of you and your spouse; (5) the jurisdiction in which your divorce occurs.
An uncontested divorce is basically a divorce in which the other party doesn’t raise any objections or put forth disagreements regarding the issues of the divorce. In other words, the other party agrees on the issues of property division, alimony, child custody, and so forth. An uncontested divorce is the easiest way to finalize the divorce on the 61st day after the initial filing, because there is no need for litigation. For contested divorces, everything depends on the details of the issues involved, how reasonable the parties are willing to be, and so forth. If a couple has a very large asset portfolio, and is disagreeable when it comes to the requests of the other party, then the divorce could take a very long time to resolve.
Litigation Requires the Most Time
Another point which you should definitely keep in mind is that, as a general rule, litigation will always surpass mediation and collaborative divorce in terms of time. Litigation involves following complex procedural rules in court, abiding the busy court docket, acquiring witnesses, planning testimony, and so forth. If you go one of the alternative routes, such as mediation or collaborative divorce, this will almost always enable you to finalize your divorce more quickly. Of course, there is always the possibility that neither of these alternative routes is successful, and you ultimately end up in litigation anyway. But, in the event that one of these alternatives works out, you will usually have a shorter length for your divorce.
Contact The Divorce Concierge for More Information
This is a lot of information to take in. Hopefully, we were able to shed some light on this much-requested topic. If you’d like more information, don’t hesitate to reach out to Divorce Concierge today for a discovery call.
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