How long does a divorce or legal separation case take?
In Connecticut there is a 90-day waiting period before the parties can get divorced or legally separated. This date begins to run from the “return date” which is indicated on the first set of papers served by one party upon the other. Once the 90-day period expires, the parties are able to get divorced or legally separated. The sooner the parties are able to reach agreement on all issues of their case, the sooner they will be able to finalize their case and go to court on an uncontested basis. If the parties are unable to reach an agreement on all issues of their case, then they will have to go to trial. A case that has to go to trial could take approximately 12-24 months from the time the case was begun. In my experience the average uncontested case takes approximately 5 months; the average limited contested case takes approximately 12-15 months; and the average contested case takes approximately 18-24 months.
