For many Georgia couples who are filing for divorce, it is important to move through the process as quickly as possible to begin assembling a new life after divorce. Georgia law provides specific timing requirements for certain elements of a divorce, but others depend upon a number of different factors, from whether the spouses can come to an agreement on terms to how long you have to gather information required for your case. While divorces can drag on for a number of different reasons, you may experience delays that are difficult to handle when you do not have the help of an experienced divorce attorney in Georgia.
In short, you may experience delays that are avoidable if you work with a divorce lawyer throughout your case. The following are some of the reasons that people may experience delays when they do not hire a capable divorce attorney to handle their divorce and instead file and handle it themselves.
Meeting Filing Timelines and Requirements
Under Georgia law, there are specific filing requirements that you will need to meet in order to file your petition for divorce, to ensure that divorce papers are timely and properly served on the other spouse, to submit evidence and other materials to the court, and to provide the court with a marital settlement agreement if you and your spouse can come to an agreement about the terms of the divorce. 16 6 CHAPTER 17 Georgia family lawyers have years of experience handling a wide variety of issues in divorce cases, and they have experience with the specific timelines and requirements for a divorce under Georgia law. By working with a lawyer, you can avoid delays resulting from misunderstandings about the law’s specific requirements and the deadlines you are required to meet. The most basic timeline being you have to wait 30 days before the Court will consider granting your divorce from the date the other party was notified by either acknowledging service in writing or being served. Even then the Court will only consider your divorce at 30 days if the proper settlement, affidavit, financial affidavit, and consent by both parties is filed with a motion for the Court to grant the divorce.
Most parties that don’t hire a lawyer end up waiting around 60 to 90 days or more to be divorced even if they have all the paperwork they need. This is because the Court usually wants the spouses to come to Court on an appointed day and verbally tell the Court that they do want to be divorced and it was them that signed and agreed to the settlement documents. So a common delay even if you are able to figure out all the correct paperwork is that the Court trusts a lawyer from experience knows how to handle it correctly and is an officer of the Court sworn to be truthful. Whereas, any other person without a lawyer is not an officer of the Court and doesn’t have the experience working with the Court like a capable divorce attorney in Georgia.
When the Other Spouse Does Not Want to Get Divorced
When you want to file for divorce and move forward as quickly as possible but your spouse does not want to get divorced, your spouse can take steps to delay the process. If you file your divorce on your own, you may not understand some of the ways to deal with a contentious divorce and an angry spouse who does not want to move forward with the proceedings based on the terms you consider to be fair and could even be fair. By working with a divorce lawyer who has experience handling cases like yours, you can move through the process as quickly as possible and take steps to ensure that the other spouse cannot use unfair delay tactics.
Other Spouse Will Not Agree to Terms
Failing to agree to terms is one of the major reasons that divorces get delayed. When you do not have an advocate on your side, it can be extremely difficult and time-consuming to negotiate with the other party. For example, you may have serious concerns about matters of property distribution or child custody, but you cannot convince your spouse to even consider your concerns within these matters. Indeed, negotiations and discussions can come to a standstill, and it can be complicated to move forward in your divorce process. Eventually even leading the Court to call a hearing themselves and then dismiss your case entirely. A Georgia divorce lawyer with experience handling intricate negotiations can prevent unnecessary delays and can work to get you a timely resolution.