Divorce is often the last option someone considers when their marriage goes through a difficult time. Most adults in Utah prefer to remain married if at all possible. They feel a sense of responsibility to their spouses and their communities and would prefer to uphold their marriage vows if they can work through their issues.
Unfortunately, some people have no practical options other than divorce when their marriage reaches a low point. If a spouse won’t change their abusive or unfaithful conduct, the other person may feel as though divorce is the only option. Scenarios involving substance abuse, financial misconduct and unhealthy dynamics may also lead people to eventually realize that divorce is the best situation.
After months or years of unhappy marriage, people are often eager to move forward with divorce as quickly as possible. How long does it take to divorce in Utah?
There is a mandatory waiting period
Some states allow relatively fast divorce proceedings. Others may require a lengthy separation before the courts grant a divorce. Utah falls in between those two extremes. People cannot divorce in a matter of days, but they also don’t face a requirement to separate for a full year before they can finalize their divorce.
The waiting period for a Utah divorce is not particularly lengthy. Typically, someone who files initial divorce paperwork must wait at least 30 days before requesting the finalization of their divorce. However, not every divorce can go from filing to final orders in just over a month.
Spouses with a lot of property or minor children often require weeks of negotiations to settle the terms of their divorces. If they attend mediation, they may need to schedule a session and then wait for weeks before they sit down with a professional to discuss their marital circumstances and divorce terms.
In scenarios where spouses do not agree on the terms of a divorce and must have a judge rule on the matter, divorce could take months or more than a year to complete. The volume of cases demanding the attention of local family law judges and the complexity of the issues involved in a divorce influence how long a litigated divorce may require to complete. People may have to wait months for hearings and then weeks for the judge to return a final ruling on the major issues in their divorces.
The fastest divorces possible involve uncontested filings. Spouses either have marital agreements or negotiate their own settlements that allow them to go from filing to finalizing their divorce in a matter of weeks. Understanding the likely timeline may help people feel more prepared when they decide to file for divorce in Utah.