The Reason Divorce Takes So Long, Even When You Settle

I’ve written about how long it takes to get a divorce and our findings that there is a great time difference between those couples who start with settlement and those who start with litigation. Both groups settled their issues, as do the vast majority of divorce cases, but still they experienced significantly different time frames in doing so. On average it took 6-18 months longer for the second group. Why?

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When you begin in the litigation process, a lot of things are out of your control. Certain deadlines are automatic and they shift the focus from settlement to procedural matters.

Also, the lawyers, judges and courthouse staff are handling a lot of cases. More than 46,000 divorces were filed in Georgia in 2013. The pace slowed to 43,865 cases in 2014, but that does not change the reality that on average our 200± superior court judges each has about 2,000 pending cases at any given moment. Those include divorces, business disputes, criminal trials, and many other types of lawsuits.

How Long Will Your Divorce Take?

Every divorce client I meet has the same two questions: how much will it cost? and how long will it take? The answer is always the same: it depends.

The biggest factor on both counts, and the one that you and your partner have the most control over, is how you choose to proceed starting with Day One.

Let’s look at time. In my divorce practice data we found that divorce time frames from the start of the litigation to the end ranged from less than 6 months to up to 3 years.

Why is the range so wide? At first, we assumed (always dangerous) that the shorter time frames were cases that settled and the longer time frames were cases that didn’t settle. But that overlooks the fact that the vast majority of cases settled.  So we looked a little closer, asking why some cases settle quickly and others take so much longer? Are there other differences that matter? Here’s what we found.