The press often talks about ‘quickie’ divorces. Speed and the courts are two concepts that rarely go hand in hand and breaking up is no exception. If you want a quick divorce, most legal experts acknowledge that the briefest period is going to be three months as six weeks must elapse between the pronouncement of the decree nisi in court and the decree absolute. That period can be shortened only in extreme circumstances. An application will have to be made and the judge will have to be convinced that there are very good reasons (such as when an ill husband or wife faces imminent death and wants to die divorced). With the delays that exist in most courts, the average time across the country to complete the process is five months.

Thanks very much to Punam Denley, a partner at the International Family Law Group LLP for reviewing and to David Hodson, also partner at the International Family Law Group LLP, who reviewed an earlier version which appeared in A Parent’s Guide to the Law by Jon Robins (LawPack , 2009).  Stephen Lawson, a litigation partner at Forshaws Davies Ridgway LLP assisted with the section on the CSA.