I am done with my wife. How long will it take to divorce her? And, why does it take so long anyways?

Welcome to the Scheduling edition of “Doing Divorce Differently.” My name is Steven Leskin. I am a divorce attorney in Portland Oregon. I have been practicing in Oregon since 1992.

It will take about one year to get to trial: give or take. Your lawyer needs to prepare and then file the divorce document with the court. Those pleadings then need to be served on your spouse. Your spouse has thirty days to respond. The court will assign you a trial date.

Some instances could push the trial timeline: the court may or may not have a judge available on the court-assigned trial date, so the court could assign you another trial date. The court may or may not have a judge available on the new assigned trial date or the opposing attorney may not be ready and requests a postponement of the trial date. Or, you may request a postponement, and the court denies the request, and then does not have a judge on the assigned day. Sometimes, just getting into court is the most aggravating part of the litigation process.

On the other hand, with mediation, you will know exactly when your divorce will be finalized, and with no surprises: you will know exactly how much your divorce will cost you.

My name is Steven Leskin. I am a divorce attorney in Portland. I have been practicing in Oregon since 1992. My law practice developed the One Day Divorce: a hybrid mediation-arbitration process designed to quickly and expediently bring an end to your unhappy marriage.

One Day Divorce. We do divorce differently.