If there’s one question I get more than most others, it’s “How long does it take to get divorced in Illinois?”
What’s the quickest way I could get divorced?
This site is clearly about uncontested divorce in Illinois. What’s that? It’s when parties agree to all aspects of their divorce: money, kids, debt – all that.
How fast an uncontested divorce moves in based on the people involved, and the court in the county of the divorce. It’s possible for an uncontested divorce to take as little as two and a half weeks. Or maybe it will take more than a month.
But to truly understand the fantastic speed of an uncontested divorce, you should consider what happens if your divorce is NOT uncontested. That is, what happens when parties fight in court.
What steps are there in a litigious divorce?
How long your divorce takes depends primarily on how much fighting you do with the other party. In divorce court, certain procedures must be followed. Consider the following limited list of what my occur in a contested divorce:
- Time to respond:Whenever someone files something in court, the other party gets to respond. The other party can have 21 days or more to respond.
- Discovery: Discovery is the process of gathering evidence. Sending out subpoenas, doing depositions, etc. Discovery can be expensive, and time-consuming. It can take a year to wade through complex finances.
- Filing motions: Motions are how parties as the court to do one thing or the other. Each time a motion is filed, the other party can respond, and a chain reaction occurs.
- Court’s schedule: Courts are busy. A hearing or trial might be scheduled for more than two moths away.
- Other matters: If one party is not following court orders, that could also cause a delay.
How to move forward
I handle uncontested and contested divorces. If someone wants to pay me to fight their case, I can do that. But I often try to steer people towards coming to an agreement and getting an amicable and quick divorce. For those interested in an uncontested divorce, I offer representation for a flat fee.