How long does a divorce take?

Since April 2022, divorce in England and Wales has been a no-fault process. This means there is no requirement to prove adultery, unreasonable behaviour or anything else of that nature. You simply state that the marriage has broken down irretrievably. You can apply once you have been married for more than a year, either on your own (a sole application) or together with your husband or wife (a joint application).

However you apply, the divorce passes through the same three stages: the application, the conditional order and the final order. We explain the process in more detail on our divorce page.

Once the court has checked your application, it issues it, which means it is formally sent to you and your husband or wife. If you have applied on your own, your husband or wife must then respond within 14 days to say whether they agree with the divorce. A divorce can only be disputed in very limited circumstances, so this is rare, but if your husband or wife does not respond at all, there will be extra steps needed which can add time to the process.

From the date the application is issued, you must wait at least 20 weeks before you can apply for a conditional order. This period cannot be shortened. In practice, it is often the time in which you begin to work out arrangements for your finances and any children.

After the 20 weeks, you can apply for a conditional order. This is the court's confirmation that it sees no reason why you cannot divorce. A judge reviews the application, and if the judge believes you are entitled to a divorce, the court sends you both a certificate giving the date on which the conditional order will be made. You are still married at this point.

You must then wait at least 43 days (six weeks and one day) from the date of the conditional order before you can apply for the final order, which is the order that ends the marriage. Once it is made, you are divorced and free to remarry if you wish.

There are two further time limits to be aware of. If you do not apply for the final order within 12 months of the conditional order, you will have to explain the delay to the court when applying for the final order. And, if you applied on your own and do not apply for the final order, your husband or wife can apply instead, but only after waiting a further three months on top of the 43 days.

Added together, the two waiting periods come to a little over six months. Court processing time is added at each stage, which is why the government's own guidance says a divorce normally takes at least 7 months, and why we suggest planning on a minimum of 8.

The Ministry of Justice's most recent figures, for April to June 2026, give a better sense of what is typical. Of the divorces finalised in that period, on average, joint applications took 49 weeks and sole applications 60 weeks. Your own timescale will depend on your circumstances, but taking longer than the legal minimum is normal, not a sign that something has gone wrong.

The divorce itself and the financial settlement are separate legal processes, although they are inevitably linked. If you want a legally binding arrangement for dividing your money and property, you need to apply to the court (either asking a judge to approve an agreement reached or asking for a judge to determine the outcome). It is common, and often sensible, to wait until the financial settlement has been approved by the court before applying for the final order in the divorce. You remain married until you receive your final order, and this can have important implications relating to tax, pensions and inheritance. Ending the marriage before the finances are resolved can affect your position, particularly where pensions are involved.

It is therefore important that the timing of the final order should be a decision you make with appropriate advice. We explain the routes to an agreement in our article on how to reach a financial settlement in a divorce, and our financial separation page sets out how we can help.

The legal waiting periods are the same regardless of whether you make a sole or joint application. A joint application tends to suit couples who both agree that the marriage is over and expect to cooperate, as each of you has to confirm at every stage that you want to continue. If one of you stops responding, the other can carry on as a sole applicant, but there is a little further work involved.

A sole application tends to suit you if your husband or wife does not agree with the divorce, or you do not expect them to cooperate. In the figures above, joint applications reached the final order sooner on average, although couples who apply jointly have, by definition, already agreed that they want to divorce.

The waiting periods are fixed, but you can influence much of what happens around them. Having your marriage certificate (or a certified copy) and your husband or wife's current address ready when you apply avoids an early delay. Responding promptly at each stage helps, as does starting to gather the financial information you will need, which we explain in our article on financial disclosure in a divorce.

Making the application yourself can work well where you are both agreed and your finances are simple. However, some prefer for the added admin and stress to be shouldered by someone else - and that is often when we can help. We have access to the court's online portal, so we can complete the documentation and deal with the court for you, or guide you through each step if you would prefer to apply yourself.