Here’s a divorce question I get a lot.  Is there anything such as a Fast Divorce?

For a Michigan Divorce we have what’s called a statutory waiting period.  The statutory waiting period can be waived.  Now there are about half of the judges in downtown Detroit that will not waive the statutory waiting period under just about any circumstance, but half will.  So occasionally we can go in early. We have to say some magic words on the record and half the judges will waive that time period.

So yes it’s possible that we could significantly shorten it.  But,  for instance if the divorce is without children there’s a sixty day waiting period, but there’s a twenty-one day period wherein  the opponent has the opportunity to file an answer.  So I really couldn’t get a judgment on divorce in those twenty-one days anyway.  So it’s rare that somebody comes to me and says hey I need to get divorced right away.  I did have one client that was moving to England and they needed to speed it up.  So we were able to draft up all the paperwork ahead of time and get testimony from the other side. So there are ways that we can accommodate people if they had such a situation.

Occasionally I’ll get service people that are home for the holidays but are going back to Afganistan let’s say at the first of the year.  Well obviously they can’t wait around for the sixty-days or the six months to be up.  So  in that situation I can go to the judge and ask could you please preserve testimony.  We’ll come in early, say the magic words early but not have them be effective until after the waiting periods over with and most judges will probably be accommodating of that situation.