Each divorce case varies, but several elements can contribute to prolonging proceedings. Even amicable splits may take months or years for resolution.
Some spouses attempt to postpone the process intentionally for financial gain or out of bitterness; it’s also common for a divorce to last longer than anticipated due to necessary or natural delays.
1. Unwillingness to Accept the End of the Marriage
Divorce can be difficult for anyone, especially the spouse initiating it, psychologically. Without being fully understanding and processing the end of their marriage, active participation in divorce proceedings may become impossible, leading to emotional escalation, anger and denial from both partners as well as forms of resistance from either party. One way of helping these reactions to be addressed effectively would be discernment counseling or marriage therapy sessions with both partners present.
One way to overcome their resistance is by listening and responding appropriately to any objections they raise, offering compassionate responses, such as countering their claims with facts about conflict-driven divorce that demonstrate its non-damaging effects on children rather than on those themselves. Here is an opportunity for educating your spouses that a divorce won’t wreak long-term damage; research demonstrates this fact clearly.
Sometimes a spouse may act out of anger and bitterness towards you, trying to increase attorney fees, defer support payments or conceal their assets from you – these tactics are more deliberate ways of prolonging the divorce and can be very difficult to overcome.
Certain spouses are reluctant to divorce because they believe it would be for the children’s best interest for both of them to remain together. Although this can be heartbreaking, this fear can be overcome through education about the benefits of divorce as well as encouraging joint custody arrangements and visitation rights for both partners.
Remember if you are the spouse who wants a divorce, having legal assistance can speed up proceedings by filing paperwork on your behalf. A People’s Choice can also save hundreds in legal fees by helping you create your own documents – contact us today and find out how A People’s Choice can make the divorce process smoother and faster!
2. Legal Issues
Divorce attorneys have an ethical responsibility to explore every option for their client’s benefit – this process may be lengthy.
Partners who cannot agree on custody/parenting time/alimony or property division must hire an attorney in order to reach their desired results. This process involves many documents being drawn up and meetings being scheduled – all taking considerable time and energy.
Court calendars can also play a role. It is common for courts to experience backlogs of cases that need to be heard, which could hamper your case’s progress.
Emotions can also delay proceedings; if both parties decide to fight it out and drag out the case for years as a result. Hostile couples could use no-fault divorce rules against each other in order to thwart each other’s wishes and prolong proceedings further.
If one spouse is delaying proceedings or refusing to cooperate, or is refusing to work toward the best interests of all involved, filing an RJI (Request for Judge’s Intervention) could add months onto your process.
Another possible explanation for your long-drawn-out divorce case could be due to your ex’s decision to hire their own attorney – this could make matters even more complicated as their counsel may attempt to exploit you and take advantage of you financially – something which may be hard for your lawyer to overcome in cases involving powerful parties like them who can hire their own legal representation and use their power and money against you.
If your attorney seems disengaged from quickly addressing your legal matters, it may be time for them to be fired. Recall that you can always change legal representation at any time for any reason and it won’t embarrassment or shame in seeking out another one; perhaps one with lower hourly billing costs like us! Our firm can assist in expeditious yet cost-efficient divorce solutions.
3. Logistical Issues
Divorces involving children and assets require complex legal work that takes time. Subpoenaing records from other businesses or waiting for experts to prepare reports may add weeks or even months to the process, and courts often have heavy caseloads that make scheduling hearing dates a challenge.
Emotional issues may add another delay to the process. Conflict and stonewalling can create delays that make reaching an equitable divorce settlement more challenging for both parties involved.
No one wishes for a drawn-out divorce process, yet some do drag on for years. By becoming aware of and taking steps to address these factors, you can hasten the divorce process and have it over with more quickly, benefitting both yourself, your partner, and any children from your marriage – eventually moving forward with life after a painful separation process has concluded.
4. Court Scheduling
An uncontested divorce can take anywhere from six months to one year just to set up an initial hearing date in court, due to its sheer complexity. Court systems have multiple cases to process at once – depending on your county there could be hundreds pending before one judge! In order to meet all court deadlines efficiently. Each county also has an assigned schedule of hearing dates that must be adhered to so all domestic cases can be heard on time and resolved swiftly.
Once a divorce case has been filed in court, it typically sits dormant until one party files a “Request for Judicial Intervention”, or RJI. Once this document has been filed, the Judge usually reviews and then schedules an initial court conference – commonly known as a Preliminary Conference meeting, usually between 2 to 4 weeks post scheduling (assuming service has been completed).
Next comes discovery, which may take up to 12 months. Attorneys and parties then attend additional court conferences to update the judge on how the case is progressing – which themselves may take an additional 12 months for completion.
Note that judges’ schedules may change at any time; for example if one becomes ill or has other personal obligations that need attending to, delaying your case. There may also be valid reasons why your hearing might be postponed such as disability or military service obligations.
Apart from mandatory and natural delays, spouses may also take steps to prolong the divorce process intentionally for financial gain or simply because they do not wish to end their marriage – either way this can extend it further and prolong all aspects of it for everyone involved.
If your divorce has taken longer than anticipated, it’s essential to speak to an experienced family law attorney about why. At A People’s Choice, our knowledgeable lawyers can assist in helping to understand why this delay exists and discuss available solutions with you. Don’t delay – contact us now for a complimentary consultation session!