The length of time it takes to get divorced is set out by legislation. Following the completed divorce application being sent by the court to your ex, there is a mandatory 20-week wait before you can apply for the conditional order (formerly decree nisi). After the court has granted the conditional order, there is a further wait of 6 weeks and 1 day, before you can apply for the final divorce order (formerly decree absolute).
The length of time it takes to get divorced is set out by legislation. Following the completed divorce application being sent by the court to your ex, there is a mandatory 20-week wait before you can apply for the conditional order (formerly decree nisi). After the court has granted the conditional order, there is a further wait of 6 weeks and 1 day, before you can apply for the final divorce order (formerly decree absolute).
If you have a family law issue and require legal advice to understand your options, contact specialist divorce solicitor Jemma Slavin of Stowe Family Law. Regional Director at this well-respected specialist family law firm, she is committed to offering a bespoke service to her clients which focuses on their specific needs and objectives.
In essence, a divorce will take a minimum of 26 weeks from start to finish. However, in many cases, the process is a lot slower, particularly if you need to resolve financial aspects or have a dispute about the children. Sometimes, an ex may simply do their utmost to delay and frustrate the proceedings.
What is the divorce process timeline?
There are two required waiting periods in the divorce process that add up to the minimum of 26 weeks. These pauses serve as “cooling off” periods to prevent hasty divorces and provide for reflection. The timeline is as follows:
- Complete divorce application/acknowledgement of service – the respondent will be given two weeks to complete the acknowledgement and send it to the court to confirm they have received the application
- Application for a conditional order – this stage of the divorce sees the first waiting period. At least 20 weeks must pass after the date of the application before the conditional order can be applied for
- Application for a final order – this application is expected to take no more than two or three weeks to be processed, although this is typically driven by the court’s workload. Once you have received the final order, the divorce is complete, and you are no longer married.
What are the reasons a divorce can be delayed over the minimum 26 week period?
There may be delays that are out of your control, for example, if you have lost contact with your ex and no longer have their address or if they are unresponsive to the acknowledgement of service form. However, the more common and time-consuming issue surround children, finances, and property. Here is our non-exhaustive list of the most common reasons for delays in the divorce process:
- Contesting a divorce – the only instance in which a divorce can now be disputed is if it is based on the validity of the marriage or jurisdiction (for example if one party lives abroad). The divorce will be granted on the single reason of the irretrievable breakdown of the marriage.
- Acknowledgement of service not returned – if the form is not returned, whether or not this is intentional, it can lead to months of delay
- Locating an ex when you don’t have an address – reasonable efforts should be made to ascertain an ex’s address, but if this proves fruitless, it may be possible for the court to proceed without it. However, this will add to the complexity and cause significant delay
- Completing a joint divorce application – although filing a joint divorce application sounds great in practice, when it comes to going through the process it is not uncommon for one spouse to be less efficient than the other. Applying jointly means that both parties must tell the court they are happy to continue at various stages in the process. If your ex decides they no longer want to cooperate or respond to the court, you will have to apply to the court to take it over yourself, which can create further delay
- Children disputes – if you have children, you will need to make arrangements for their care and where they will live following your separation. Whilst it is best for everyone involved if you can resolve these issues without going to court, sometimes this is simply not possible. However, this can add a significant amount of time to the divorce process. The length of court proceedings will depend on the complexity of the circumstances, but you can typically expect a child’s general contact arrangements case to resolve in the courts between 6-9 months. Other issues may take a year or longer.
- Finances – this is one of the leading areas likely to cause delays in a divorce and often pushes timescales to upwards of a year. This is because it is absolutely essential these matters are resolved before the divorce is finalised so that neither party is left in a vulnerable position. Depending on the complexity of the issues and the cooperation of the other party, it may take anything from months to over a year to come to a resolution.
- Property – if you and your ex own a home together, it may be complicated and time-consuming to decide what to do with the property. You may have to consider selling it or whether one of you will continue to live there, and under what terms. These kinds of decisions often lead to disagreements, which can lead to intransigent positions being taken. This often causes additional delay.
- Negotiation delay – there are times when a party will say they want to resolve a financial or child dispute amicably, but then delay. Although some delays in attending mediation meetings may be understandable, you may need to reconsider if the delay has become unreasonable, and the other party is using this as a tactic to string things along.
- Complex assets – the presence of complex assets can extend the divorce timeline. This includes businesses, investments, and overseas properties that require accurate valuation, and often, specialist advice. Additionally, if these assets are in dispute, it may lead to further challenges and, consequently, a longer divorce process.
- Court/administrative delays – sometimes court delays can hold things up, and unfortunately this is becoming increasingly common. Courts can experience backlogs and administrative delays, particularly in times of high demand or because of staffing issues. These delays can affect how quickly documents are processed, and hearings scheduled; for example, it can take months to obtain a final hearing date for an application for a financial settlement or child arrangements order. Negotiating an agreement via solicitors or through family mediation may be a way round such delays.
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