Divorce is an unpleasant and emotional process, and it’s natural to want it to be over with as quickly as possible. The fastest way to get through this process is with the help of a divorce attorney in San Antonio, TX.

Every divorce is unique, and ultimately the timeline of your divorce is going to depend on the particulars of your situation. It’s also common for most divorcing couples to assume that things can be finished more quickly than they can. Often, the parties involved initiate the process in agreement about getting divorced generally and motivated to reach an agreement quickly, only to find that, once they get into negotiations, they have stronger feelings about certain issues than they originally thought.

The fastest possible divorce in Texas takes 61 days, but even that speed is difficult to achieve. At the other end, the longest divorces can take several years to resolve. The average uncontested divorce takes between 61 and 90 days, while the average contested divorce takes a year to 18 months. Let’s get into the details below:

The quickest way to get a divorce in Texas is if you and your spouse agree on all aspects of the divorce. This means you have to agree about how you’re going to divide all the property, any issues of spousal support, child custody and support, and anything else that may be relevant to your divorce. If you are in agreement, then talk to your divorce attorney, who will help you get everything prepared during the required 60 day “cooling-off period” required under Texas law, so that as soon as it’s over, you’re ready to file and can immediately get divorced.

However, bear in mind that it’s pretty rare for a couple to agree this completely and for a divorce to actually get done in just 61 days. Almost always, the couple disagrees about some aspect of the divorce. Any disagreement means more steps and a longer amount of time as each of you files your counterpetitions or answers, serves them to the other party, and then waits for a response. This process can take several weeks for each petition.

If you and your spouse disagree about any part of your divorce, even if it seems like quite a minor issue, the divorce goes from being uncontested to contested and always takes extra time to resolve. The more things you disagree on, the longer the divorce is likely to take. 

The process will begin when one of you files for divorce. This person is known as the petitioner and should file a petition for divorce that lays out everything they are asking for. They will then have to serve the papers from this divorce to the other party, and that party has a limited time to respond. They can respond by counterpetition or by giving an answer. Either way, this will initiate a period of negotiation, and the courts are likely to have you enter discussion with a mediator to get your disagreements resolved.

Working with a divorce attorney in San Antonio is always going to help your divorce go as quickly as possible under the circumstances. Even if your divorce is uncontested, you could easily experience delays if something about the paperwork is not done correctly or if the court requests more information, and you don’t know how to respond. Your agreement must be acceptable to the court, which means that it must be considered fair and in the best interests of any children who are involved. 

If you don’t know what the court is looking for to demonstrate all this, you can end up with some big delays, even if you are in agreement with your spouse about the details. Obviously, if you are not in agreement, having a divorce attorney becomes even more essential. Your attorney can help you to focus on what’s in your long-term best interests, provide a buffer between you and your spouse in all negotiations, and help you to present your case in a way the court is likely to look upon favorably.

The first step is filing the forms, sending all of these to your spouse, and waiting for their response. This can be done quickly if your spouse wants to sign a Waiver of Service, but otherwise you’ll have to give them 20–28 days to respond. There are numerous documents that may be required in this filing, depending on your situation, and any mistakes like incomplete forms, incorrect information, or using the wrong forms can really slow the process. Your attorney will make sure this doesn’t happen.

As mentioned, you will have a 60-day waiting period, and this is a great time to work with your lawyer to make sure the process can move as quickly as possible once that waiting period is over. If it’s a contested divorce, this is an opportunity to sit down with your spouse and try to hammer out the details. If you don’t during this period, then you’ll continue to negotiate once the 60 days are up. 

You’ll need to provide disclosures of all information to your spouse, and they will need to do the same with you, and either side can also ask for temporary orders from the court to protect property or set up child custody issues. Temporary orders only last as long as the divorce is in process. All this continues until either you and your spouse agree or it becomes clear that agreement is simply not possible. At that point, the court will make the decisions on areas where you cannot agree.

One thing that greatly slows down divorce is when there are difficult issues the parties have to resolve. These tend to be property division and child custody, though child support and spousal support can also be contentious issues.

Perhaps the most important factor in the speed of your divorce will be the attitude that you and your spouse have towards it. If you are both anxious to divorce and willing to work together, things will go quickly. If you have an adversarial attitude and are looking to pick a fight over every little issue, the divorce can stretch on for months and even years. 

Your lawyer will give you tips on how to diffuse an adversarial attitude on the part of your spouse and can help you to stay focused on getting through this as smoothly as possible for your own good and for the good of your children.

The family courts in Texas sometimes have quite a backlog, and that means you may need to wait until there is availability. There is no way to know what the caseload of the courts might be prior to filing, unfortunately. Your lawyer will be able to tell you more when you go for a consultation.

For help in getting your divorce as smoothly and quickly as possible, contact the Rojas Law Firm, PLLC in San Antonio at 210-299-4600 and let’s discuss your case.