A Divorce is the legal process through which a married couple dissolves their legal marriage. It is a process that is not only complex, but often times emotionally charged and part of a significant life change. If you’re thinking about divorce, it is important to have reasonable and educated expectations about what the process looks like, and how long it might take.

So let’s start with the basics,
how does the divorce process begin?…

The divorce proceeding is initiated by the “Petitioner.” The Petitioner can be either party to the marriage and is the person who initiates the proceeding by filing a divorce petition with the court. The Petitioner is then required to give legal notice to the other party in the marriage (the “Respondent”). Once the Respondent receives notice, they must prepare and file an Answer to the Petition. Now, the Petition and the Answer to the Petition are both pertinent documents to file in a divorce case and have a major impact on how the divorce will play out. It is always recommended that each party hire an attorney to help them navigate each part of the process so that they are protected and that everything is done correctly.

Discovery

Once the parties have filed these initial documents, they will exchange a series of information. This exchange of information is called Discovery, and the information being exchanged includes an Inventory and Appraisement, which encompasses paycheck stubs, bank statements, investment and retirement account information, deeds, titles, etc. 

Settlement

The goal is then to have the parties come to an agreement regarding the division of their assets and debts, and collaboratively work out child support and visitation schedules. When an agreement is reached and signed, only one of the parties will need to make a court appearance in front of the judge for a Default Hearing. This hearing will finalize the divorce agreement.

Mediation

If, however, the parties don’t come to an agreement after discovery and attempted negotiation, the parties will attend a Mediation where a Mediator (an objective third party trained to assist the parties in reaching an agreement) will encourage the parties to reach an agreement. In a mediation, all issues might get resolved, only some of the issues might get resolved, and on some occasions, none of the issues will be resolved.

Final Hearing

If mediation is unsuccessful, a Final Hearing will typically be scheduled where the court will hear both sides, decide on the issues the parties were not able to reconcile, and sign a divorce decree. This is certainly not the ideal scenario as the last thing either party should want is to have the result of their divorce in the hands of a third party.

Once the divorce decree is signed by the
judge, there is still plenty of work to be done.

The kind of post-decree work to be completed is different in each case and depends on the assets involved and how they are to be divided. This is true for every divorce whether the marriage terminates by agreement or by way of a court decision. Post-Decree items can include the transferring of titles, name changes (if any), deed preparation and recording, and more.

How long will this all take?

In the State of Texas, the most simple and expedited divorces take a minimum of 61 days from the date of filing the divorce petition. However, very few couples are able to finalize their divorce within that time frame. The amount of time a divorce takes is dependent upon the particular circumstances of each divorce. These circumstances can depend on the cooperation of the parties and the attorneys involved, the types of assets belonging to the community estate (i.e. the shared pot of gold), the amount of time it takes for clients to provide their attorney with the information requested, the court’s calendar, inability of either of the parties to make decisions, emotional status of the parties, and failure to pay attorney’s fees (this will in fact, stop the divorce from moving forward).The list goes on and on. 

The most important thing to know is that it’s nearly impossible to predict how long a divorce proceeding will take. But the process can certainly be expedited if the parties, and their attorneys, work towards settlement.

An attorney will be able to narrow down an estimated time frame based on your particular circumstances. But understand that it is very difficult to estimate since there are many factors to consider, some of which may be unknown at the onset of the divorce.

Remember though, this article is called “The Texas Divorce Process- in a Nutshell“! There are many contingencies and aspects of divorce that are not discussed in this article such as what happens if there are children involved. And although going through a divorce can be a stressful process, there are several ways to mitigate unnecessary challenges.

If you’d like to chat about the divorce process, please call our office. We are ready to educate you and walk you through.