If you’ve made the decision to end your marriage, you likely want the process to be over with as quickly as possible so you can move on. One of the most frustrating things for divorcing couples is how long the process can take, especially if you have known divorce has been a possibility for a while. While there isn’t always much you can do to speed up the process, understanding the timeline, as well as avoiding pitfalls that can potentially slow you down, can be helpful as you work through the divorce proceedings.
Having a good divorce lawyer to guide you is essential to making sure your divorce can be completed as quickly and cleanly as possible. Divorce is a long process, but making sure that you’ve done everything correctly will help you as you begin your new life.
Most divorces in Ohio that do not involve child custody take between 6 and 12 months from the initial filing date to the judge signing the final decree. If you have children together and are negotiating a custody agreement, the process can take 6 to 18 months longer, and some divorces may take even longer. Much of this time is dependent on how quickly the courts are moving and there is not much you can do to accelerate the process.
However, because you do not have to be legally separated before filing for divorce in Ohio, and the only requirement is that you or your spouse need to have lived in Ohio for at least six months, the process starts as soon as one spouse files the paperwork.
There are several stages you will move through during the divorce proceedings. One spouse will file for divorce and serve them to the clerk of the court in your county. Once the papers have been filed, temporary orders will be defined and the negotiations will begin. You may have several hearings and work with a mediator during this process. Once you and your spouse have worked through all the issues, a judge will read your agreement, approve or amend it, and then sign it, completing the process.
One spouse will initiate the process by officially filing for divorce. Even if both spouses have agreed to the divorce prior, only one spouse needs to file the initial paperwork. The initial filing form will be detailed and ask you to describe your income, expenses, assets, and debts. It is extremely important that these forms are accurate, as any errors can slow down the process significantly. After filling out the forms, you will take them to the clerk of the court where you are filing and pay the filing fee. After this, the court will notify your spouse that you have filed for divorce by officially serving the divorce papers, usually by certified mail. Your spouse will then need to respond within 28 days by filing their own documents. About 4 to 6 weeks after they respond, you will have an initial hearing. During this time you can also request a hearing where the court will decide on temporary orders that will be in place until the divorce is finalized.
During this phase, you and your spouse will gather all the information about your income, expenses, assets, and debts and will determine the most equitable way to divide everything. If you and your spouse are working toward an amicable divorce, you will likely be able to handle this phase with your attorney and a mediator, but in more contentious cases, you may need to go through a discovery process and participate in depositions, attend hearings, and work with the judge on developing a final agreement. This is the stage where some couples can get stuck.
If you and your spouse were able to get through the negotiation process and settle on a division that is fair and equitable, your time in court should be relatively quick, and your divorce can be completed as soon as you are able to get on the court’s schedule. A judge will review the agreement you developed with your attorney, and if they think that it is fair, will sign the final divorce decree that will officially end your marriage. Once you have the judge’s sign off, you are finished with the process and can move on. However, if the judge does not agree with anything in the agreement or feels that one spouse is being treated unfairly, they may send the parties back to the drawing board.
While there isn’t a lot you can do to speed up the process, there are a lot of things that can slow the process down, some of which you may have control over, and some of which you may not.
The first factor that will impact the length of the process is whether or not you have children under 18. This is simply because child custody agreements and child support, if applicable, can take more time to negotiate and finalize. You and your spouse will have a lot of decisions to make together about the best arrangement for sharing custody. Another factor that can delay the process is in cases where you and your spouse own a business or have a high net worth. When there are more assets to divide, and particularly when you have a business, the process of asset division gets more complicated, as both you and your spouse will want certain assets to stay intact.
However, there are some things that can slow down the process unnecessarily, and usually have to do with the behavior of one spouse. In some cases, one spouse will contest the divorce, and additional hearings may be scheduled. One spouse may try to hide or conceal assets, and the process of uncovering this deception will extend the proceedings. Or, frustratingly, one spouse may simply try to be difficult during the process to deliberately slow things down as a way of “punishing” the other spouse and preventing them from moving on. In these cases, it is very helpful to have an attorney you trust who can guide you and move things along as quickly as possible.
When you are ready to move on from your marriage, you don’t want a long delay. While the process can feel like it’s moving slowly, working with an experienced attorney can help keep you informed and on track. If you’re filing for divorce, contact my office today.