Uncontested divorce denotes an agreement between the parties to separate and a degree of cooperation necessary to complete the procedure. In California, an uncontested divorce typically takes six months to complete. What transpires, though, when a divorce is difficult, and both parties still need to resolve issues before concluding the divorce process?
No matter their state, contested divorces can drag on for a long time. A disputed divorce may take months or even years to complete, depending on the problems involved. While some contentious divorces take a little longer than uncontested ones, others may necessitate numerous court appearances, protracted negotiations, and other time-consuming procedures.
Although hiring a lawyer doesn’t ensure the success of your divorce, it does put skilled and knowledgeable counsel in your corner throughout the process. Our goal at The Bledsoe Firm LLC is to assist clients in obtaining a just divorce outcome. We commit the necessary resources to assist clients in every stage of the legal procedure in order to help them resolve their legal disputes. Despite our expertise in negotiations, we are equally prepared to represent your interests in court.
What Lengthens Contested Divorces?
Contested divorces require court hearings and a neutral judge, which adds time to the process. The judge’s timetable ultimately determines how a divorce case is handled. As a result, the number of issues in a divorce might affect how long it takes to resolve because of the availability of court dates.
The following factors prolong a contested divorce:
- child support
- care of the child
- Family assistance
- wide-ranging asset division
- Conflicting facts
- Conflicts in the law
- excessive requirements
There is a procedure that determines how long disputed divorces take. Generally speaking, there are seven steps in this procedure.
- Disputed divorce procedures include:
- lawyer consultations
- Divorce papers are served
- An answer while we wait (up to 30 days)
- Discovery
- Settlement
- Court
- appeals after the trial
The intricacies of a contentious divorce determine its length, as was already established. The process will go much more slowly if the parties are unable to come to an agreement. Each party has 30 days to file an appeal once the judge makes a decision regarding the terms of a divorce. The opposing party has up to 30 days after an appeal to respond. A judge will then render a verdict following this. The divorce procedure will resume at the court phase if an appeal is successful.
