Divorce requires you to wait. Whether the process is long or short depends on your type of divorce. Is it contested or uncontested?
Your spouse may also play a part in the divorce waiting game. If he or she does not respond to service or refuses to sign the papers, the delays could extend the finalization. However, the courts put waiting periods in place to help move the divorce process along.
Waiting periods
From beginning to end, the perfect uncontested divorce process lasts 60 days. There are two exceptions to the 60-day waiting period. Those include:
- The courts may waive the waiting period if your spouse received a conviction or deferred adjudication for family violence against you or a member of your household.
- The courts may waive the waiting period if you have an active protective order for emergency protection against your house because of family violence during the marriage.
When serving your spouse with divorce papers, understand that the state gives them 20 days to file a response. The countdown starts the day after service and ends the Monday after 20 days.
Default judgment
In Texas, a default judgment for a divorce is when a person served with a divorce petition fails to file an answer within the required amount of time. After the 20 day waiting period, if your spouse fails to respond to the petition, the judge may have no reason to deny your requests.
Your spouse may still file a response even after the waiting period expires, but there must be a good reason he or she did not respond on time. To keep from delaying the divorce, make sure your spouse has had every opportunity to respond to the petition.