How long do I have to wait before my divorce will be finalized in Georgia?
This is an often asked question that unfortunately, does not really have an answer. The reason for this is the delay for a divorce to occur in Georgia is not really a statutory delay. Technically, the proper answer is that Uniform Superior Court Rule 24.6(a) provides that the parties must wait a minimum of thirty-one days from the date of service (or date an acknowledgment of service is filed with the Court) prior to the Court being allowed to issue a decree of divorce. This technically correct answer is rarely the case in Georgia – especially in the metro Atlanta counties.
To better understand, it is important to understand what is required prior to a divorce being granted. Generally speaking, this means the parties must either agree to everything that is at issue in a divorce or have the court decide things for them through hearings and/or trials.
In regards to a settlement agreement, the biggest difficulty is the parties must reach an agreement on all issues pending in their divorce. While in an ideal world this sounds like (and generally is) the better way to handle a divorce, it is often difficult for two parties that are dealing with the numerous emotional and financial issues that surround a divorce to reach an agreement on everything. Of course, this entire process of presenting offers and counteroffers can become time consuming and often takes longer than the thirty day mandatory waiting period in Georgia because attorneys take time to careful draft and review proposals sent by each other and sometimes involve third party mediators to help facilitate negotiations. In addition, even once the parties agree, it may take weeks or even months for a judge to be able to review and finally approve a settlement agreement and final divorce depending upon his or her schedule and the volume of other cases that judge is handling.
Even slower than the parties reaching their own agreement is waiting for a judge (and in some cases a jury) to make determinations necessary to finalize a divorce. The issues before a court can be everything from complex financial analysis to difficult custody determinations. There is often a discovery period of six months for the parties and their attorneys to learn the factual circumstances surrounding their divorce. Even after this discovery period is over, the parties often file various pre-trial motions seeking to resolve some issues by court order even before a trial. All of these items take time. Adding to this equation is the fact that Gwinnett, Forsyth, and Cherokee counties remain three of the fastest growing counties in the state and Fulton, DeKalb and Cobb already have substantial populations. Often, metro Atlanta lawyers find that it can take months to even get before a judge given the amount of other cases that our judges are faced with each day. Adding these factors up can mean that it may take one to two years (and sometimes longer) for a contested divorce case to see its way to a final trial.
So I guess the answer is this - in an ideal world, where the parties have already agreed to everything, sure thirty-one days is the minimum delay for obtaining a divorce but in actuality the process takes a lot longer.
