How long will my divorce case in Stuart, Florida take? This is the most asked question of clients. Of course, the answer depends on many factors, including:
- The length of the marriage,
- Whether the parties have children,
- The assets, including properties of the parties,
- Whether a marital business is involved,
- The length of the marriage,
- The judge’s calendar (as of right now there is only one family law judge hearing all divorces Martin county)
- The work history of each of the parties, and most important
- Whether the parties are agreeable to compromise.
Some Stuart, Florida divorce attorneys tell their clients not to talk at all to a spouse about compromise and let all the talking take place between the lawyers. This may be true for very particular, extremely high-conflict cases, but not for 98% of cases. For instance, husband and wives should talk about what they want as far as timesharing (schedule) with their children, how holidays should be split up, what school the children should attend, what sports they should participate in and so on. Having an overall plan for the lawyers to use for a parenting plan will indeed speed up the process.
Another factor in how long a divorce in Stuart Florida takes to complete is how quickly each party submits the documents that are required to be produced. Florida requires each party to produce specific documents, called Mandatory Disclosure. The quicker each party produces these documents, which include tax records, wage records, deeds, pay slips, bank records, investment records, a financial affidavit, and the like, the quicker the parties can get to a family law mediation. Your divorce lawyer should work with you at the very beginning to compile and file the Notice of Compliance with Mandatory Disclosure along with the petition for dissolution of marriage, to file when you file petition for dissolution of marriage. This will speed up the time to have a meaningful divorce mediation.
If your spouse, or his or her Stuart divorce attorney, does not produce a Compliance with Florida’s Mandatory Disclosure Rule, on time, your lawyer should quickly work with the opposing lawyer 
to produce the records, and if not, bring it to the court’s attention in a Motion to Compel. You should regularly be speaking with your Stuart Florida divorce lawyer if the case drags on. Many uncontested divorces will resolve in 2-3 months.
It is very conceivable in 90% of divorce cases in Stuart, Florida to attend a mediation to resolve the case within 90 days. If mediation is successful, the final judgment of dissolution of marriage (dissolving the marriage) may be entered in just a few weeks after mediation.
There are many other factors that determine how fast your divorce case will resolve. For more information, contact Martin county divorce attorney Tim Nies of Van Riper and Nies Attorneys, at 772-283-8712 for more information. The initial consultations with our Stuart, Florida divorce attorneys are free.