Why does my divorce case take so long? Why do I have keep going to court when nothing ever happens? 10 things you need to know about how long a contested divorce case will last in Ohio.

People often ask, how long will my divorce case last?  In Ohio, there are rules about how quickly courts SHOULD resolve divorce cases.  Unfortunately, many courts are unable to consistently resolve cases within these time frames.  The reasons are numerous.  Here are 10 things you need to know about how long a CONTESTED divorce case in Ohio SHOULD last, and why they sometimes last longer. 

1. The Rules of Superintendence for the Courts of Ohio require that a divorce with children be concluded within 18 months.
2. The Rules of Superintendence for the Courts of Ohio require that a divorce without children be concluded within 12 months. 
3. Click here to read an informative article from the Cleveland Plain Dealer about the length of divorces in Cuyahoga County.
4. Click here to read an informative article from the Columbus Dispatch about divorces in Franklin County take longer than almost any other county in Ohio.
5. Depending on your situation, trying to act as your own lawyer can make your divorce take longer than if you had hired a lawyer.  Click here to read an article about this from the Columbus Dispatch.
6. In a contested divorce, there is almost always one party who will benefit from delay for any number of reasons (e.g. they got a great deal on temporary orders, they want to live in the marital residence as long as possible, they do not want to testify under oath, even at a deposition, because they have “skeletons in the closet” they do not want to reveal, they are likely to lose control, they are hoping you will run out of money and give up, etc.).  That party, or their lawyer, or both, will find a million reasons to delay, such as
   • they are sick and can’t come to their hearing, deposition, you name it
   • their child is sick
   • they need more time to find an attorney
   • they had a consultation with an attorney (whose name they can’t recall) and the attorney told them (NOT) that they should not come to court
   • their attorney is sick
   • their attorney’s child is sick
   • their attorney had a scheduling mistake and booked another hearing on that date
   • they were mistaken about the date
   • they didn’t receive any notice of the hearing (because they didn’t open their door, their mail, or return their attorney’s calls)
   • they have a job interview on the court date
   • a relative died and they have to attend the funeral
   • they have a parent teacher conference that day
   • their car broke down
   • they couldn’t find a parking spot
   • they got stuck in traffic
   • they got lost
7. The other party’s lawyer is not getting paid, and so he or she is not doing any work to move the case forward.
8. Judges and Magistrates do NOT like to have a trial.  It slows down their docket and they have too many cases to have a lot of trials.  They want the parties to settle the case, because an agreement is is more likely to resolve the case than a court’s decision.
9. If the parties to a divorce want a trial, and the court’s docket is crowded, Judges and Magistrates often delay trial in order to encourage the parties to settle.  If one or both of the parties is not ready for trial, then domestic Judges and Magistrates often tell the parties to begin trial in the hopes that the parties would rather settle then go to trial unprepared.  The more crowded a county’s court docket is, the more likely this is to happen.  It is not your lawyer’s fault that this happens - Judges are elected, and while your lawyer may have knowledge of how your Judge (or Magistrate) generally runs their docket, your case would have to be REALLY old before they can do anything about the Judge or Magistrate refusing to have a trial. 
10. You have to pay your lawyer the same hourly fee to yell at them about your frustration over how slowly the system moves as you pay them to practice law.  Therapists are a lot cheaper.  Friends and family are free.  They feel your pain, but can only do so much about it. 

The information provided in this web site is applicable in the state of
Ohio and is provided as a public service. While Virginia Cornwell is a Columbus Ohio Divorce Lawyer, Columbus Ohio Custody Attorney, and an Ohio Grandparents Rights Attorney, and a Child Custody Jurisdiction Attorney, viewing the information in this web site does not constitute an attorney-client communication, and acting upon information obtained from this web site does not create an attorney-client relationship. If you would like to discuss the application of the law to your fact situation, or if you would like additional information, please call the Law Offices of Virginia C. Cornwell at 614-225-9316 to schedule a  consultation.

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