How long will it take to get divorced?

Well, it depends. It may take one to two months or one to two years. The length of time from start to final judgment really depends on you, your spouse, and your situation.

What assets and debts do you have?

You will need to determine what items are community property (property eligible to be divided between you and your spouse) and what items are separate property (property not eligible to be divided between you and your spouse). You will want to be sure that your separate property is not being considered as part of the community estate! The overall size of the marital estate will also be a factor impacting how long the divorce will take. If there are business interests, retirement accounts, residential or commercial properties, etc., it can take time to get an accurate value of the assets.

Do you have children under the age of 18?

If so, can you and your spouse agree on a custody arrangement? If not, this issue will likely take some time to be resolved. Having relevant evidence to support your case for custody is very important.

Also, you will be required to attend a Focus on Children workshop. This is a one-time class to educate parents about how the divorce can impact their children. The final divorce decree will not be signed by a judge until the class has been completed. The scheduling of these classes varies by county. Usually, you can expect the classes to be scheduled at least a few weeks after the parties have filed their initial divorce paperwork.

What do you want out of the divorce?

The answer to this question will have a huge influence in terms of how long it will take to finalize your divorce. Do you want the car, house, furniture, motorcycle, etc.? Regardless of what item you really want to keep post-divorce, courts will make sure each party gets a relatively equal share of the estate (Idaho Code § 32-712: “Unless there are compelling reasons otherwise, there shall be a substantially equal division . . . .”). Note, in some cases there are reasons why the assets should not be divided equally. You will want to verify with an attorney whether there are reasons why there should be an unequal division in your case.

Ultimately, you and your spouse can agree to divide your debts and assets any way you want, equally or unequally. Therefore, regardless of how much stuff you own, what you are willing to part with may be the key to resolving the matter quickly. It will be important for you to speak with an attorney to understand what your rights are and what type of a division you should reasonably expect to get out of your divorce.

If you need to speak with a Boise Divorce Attorney, give us a call at (208) 472-2383.