What's in a divorce timeline answer
Each state page explains the residency requirement for filing, any waiting period or required separation, the grounds the state recognizes and the steps that apply to contested and uncontested cases, then lets you enter a filing or separation date to find the earliest date the law allows. We publish legal deadlines only: no official statistic reliably says how long divorces really take, so we do not invent one. Every legal figure is tied to a cited source; see our methodology for how we verify each one.
Residency, waiting periods and separation
The first dates in a divorce are set by state law, and they differ a lot. Examples we have read in the law itself:
- Florida — one of the parties must reside in the state six months before the petition is filed (Fla. Stat. 61.021).
- Nevada — a plaintiff who resided six weeks in the state before suit was brought can file in the district court of any county (NRS 125.020).
- North Carolina — a divorce is available when the spouses have lived separate and apart for one year and one of them has resided in the state for six months (N.C.G.S. 50-6).
- South Carolina — one ground for divorce is that the spouses have lived separate and apart without cohabitation for one year, and the plaintiff must have resided in the state at least one year before filing, or three months if both spouses are residents (S.C. Code 20-3-10 and 20-3-30).
- Texas — with limited exceptions, the court may not grant a divorce before the 60th day after the suit was filed (Tex. Fam. Code 6.702).
Where a state names no waiting period, its page says so rather than adding one. Orders for custody and support during the case, parenting classes and mediation can also shape the calendar; each state page lists the ones its law requires.