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Thanks, undoubtedly, to the fact that sensationalism sells newspapers and drives traffic to websites, the myth of the 24 hour divorce persists. Indeed, over the past 12 months, I can recall seeing several stories reporting on celebrity couples ending their marriages in mere seconds! In reality, even the quickest of divorces will take several weeks irrespective of how amicable the couple in question are. The stories referred to above come about because the application for a Decree Nisi – which is essentially a document confirming that a judge has reviewed the divorce application and that they have seen no reason to prevent the procedure from being finalised – is often concluded in very little time. Whilst this part of the divorce only takes moments, though, it is thoroughly atypical when compared to the processes other steps. In the first instance, the individual applying for the divorce will need to file their petition, a copy of which will then be forwarded on to the Respondent, with this alone often taking several days. The Respondent will then, following them having received their copy of the petition, be required to complete and return documentation of their own, a task that they rarely complete immediately, usually leading to short delays. Once the Respondent’s documentation has been seen by the court, it must be seen by a judge so that they may ensure that there is no legal reason to refuse the divorce. As judges’ time is remarkably precious, it can take weeks just for this review to be arranged. Should the judge decide that the divorce can go ahead, the Petitioner will still need to wait for at least six weeks and one day before they will be able to apply to finalise their divorce. Should the judge be unsatisfied, however, then an amended petition will most likely be required which will further delay the process. Ultimately, even the quickest of divorces will take around 16 weeks to be finalised, though customers of Quickie Divorce find theirs finalised within just 12! Click here to find out how we can help you.