If your marriage has come to an end then you may be in no hurry to divorce your ex-partner.  Sometimes, though, there may be reasons for pushing this on speedily.  You may wish for a fresh start or even want to remarry (or already have booked your wedding date!). But how long does it take?

The answer to this question (if a divorce was not contentious) used to be between 3 and 6 months to enable the divorce to reach Decree Absolute and to finalise finances.  However as all divorces in this area now have to go through a single Divorce Centre they now take longer.  The Centre handles a huge number of divorces every day meaning that divorces are taking longer.  The time estimate varies, but as a minimum we are looking now at 6 to 9 months to complete a divorce.

So how can this be speeded up? The cooperation of your spouse is most important. If they deal with papers quickly then the whole process is quicker.  If you can agree the finances with them before you start the divorce (or very early on in the process) then this also speeds things up as there should be very little delay in finalising the financial Order. Ensuring that you provide your Solicitor with instructions promptly will also put you in the best possible position to move the divorce forward.