How Long Does It Take To Get Divorced In Michigan?
Posted by Jannelle J. Zawaideh on Tuesday, June 21st, 2011 at 1:30pm.Divorced in Michigan...How Long Does It Take?
When beginning the process of a divorce in Michigan, the timeline for your case will depend on whether or not there were children born during the marriage. From the date of filing in the courthouse, a divorce case where there are no minor children involved requires a mandatory waiting period of at least sixty days before it can be finalized. A divorce case where there are minor children involved requires a mandatory waiting period of at least six months. However, both types of divorce cases may take much longer than the minimum waiting periods depending on how many issues there are and how involved those issues are based on the unique set of facts of your particular case.
Different counties, different procedures
Another factor which will determine the timeline of your divorce case will be the procedures of the county in which your case is filed. Some counties take much longer than others to schedule your court dates on the calendar and each county spaces out the timeline for the hearings that take place during your divorce differently. For example, in one county you might receive a schedule of all of your court dates right away or within a week or two of filing your case. In other counties, they might average about six weeks before even sending you notice of your first court date and then continue to schedule them one at a time throughout your case instead of informing you of all of your court dates up front. Each county is different and the procedures can vary widely.
Residency requirements
The determination of which county your case will be filed in is made based on which county the filing party, also known as the Plaintiff, currently lives in. The Plaintiff must live in the county in which they wish to file for at least ten consecutive days prior to filing and he or she must have lived in the state of Michigan for at least six months prior to filing. Once these residency requirements are met, the Plaintiff may file his or her initial pleadings in his or her home county circuit court. The next step will be to have the Defendant served. Once the Defendant has been served, and has accordingly received notification of the divorce case, negotiations can begin towards a resolution of all of the issues at hand.
A settlement agreement can speed things up
Sometimes, the parties involved are able to resolve all of their issues and come up with a settlement agreement within a very short period of time after their case is pending. If it is a divorce with no minor children, the parties will still have to wait out the mandatory sixty day period before anything official can be entered by the Judge. If the parties have come to an early agreement in a divorce with minor children, they may be able to request a waiver of the mandatory six month waiting period from the Judge. If the Judge grants permission to waive the mandatory six month waiting period, then sometimes a divorce with minor children can be finalized sooner than six months after the initial filing. However, even in cases where the mandatory six month waiting period is waived, the process still usually takes about four months to complete due to the involvement of the Friend of the Court and other procedures required in a divorce with minor children that are not necessary in a divorce where there are no minor children involved. The courts main concern when minor children are involved is determining what is in the best interest of those children and every precaution will be made in order to ensure the best decisions for each particular child are made based on his or her individual needs.
For more information on the timeline and initial filing of a divorce, please give us a call at 248.356.0600 for a free phone consultation about your specific situation.
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