How long does a divorce take in Ohio?

Answered by ProctorLaw

This is general legal information, not legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is created. Talk with a licensed attorney about your situation.

Short answer: if you and your spouse agree on everything, you are describing a dissolution, and Ohio can finish one in roughly 30 to 90 days after filing. A divorce, even an uncontested one, usually takes several months, and a contested one commonly runs a year or more. The Ohio Supreme Court's own case-time standards expect courts to finish dissolutions within 3 months and divorces with children within 18 months.

Dissolution vs. divorce. They end the marriage the same way; the difference is how you get there.

A dissolution is a joint, no-fault petition. Both spouses sign one petition and attach a complete separation agreement covering the house and other property, debts, spousal support, and, with a child, custody or shared parenting, parenting time, and child support (R.C. 3105.63). The court schedules a short hearing no sooner than 30 and no later than 90 days after filing; both of you appear, confirm under oath that you signed voluntarily and still want the dissolution, and the judge grants it (R.C. 3105.64).

Nobody is served with papers and nobody is the "defendant." If either spouse changes their mind before the decree, the petition is dismissed or converted to a divorce, at no extra filing fee (R.C. 3105.65).

A divorce starts with one spouse filing a complaint on a legal ground, most often incompatibility (R.C. 3105.01). The other spouse is served and has 28 days to answer.

The court cannot hear the case until at least 42 days after service (Civ.R. 75(K)). If you both cooperate, you can still submit an agreed decree and finish in a few months. If you disagree about the house, the parenting schedule, or support, expect temporary orders, financial disclosures, possibly a guardian ad litem, mediation, and a trial date that may be a year or more out.

Residency and where to file. One of you must have lived in Ohio for at least six months before filing (R.C. 3105.03, 3105.62), and a divorce is filed in the county where the filing spouse has lived for 90 days. In your case that is the Montgomery County Domestic Relations Court. Current filing fees there are $400 for a dissolution with children ($300 without) and $475 for a divorce with children ($375 without); a poverty affidavit is available if you cannot pay.

One thing Montgomery County will require. Because you have a child, both of you must complete the court's parenting seminar ("Helping Children Succeed After Divorce") before the final decree is granted, in either a dissolution or a divorce. Register early so it does not hold up your hearing date.

What slows people down. The house: if one of you is keeping it, decide now whether the other will be refinanced off the mortgage and by when. The parenting plan: write out the actual week-to-week schedule, holidays, and who claims the child on taxes. Child support: Ohio uses a mandatory worksheet, so run the numbers before you sign.

If you truly agree on everything, a dissolution with a lawyer-drafted separation agreement is the fastest, cheapest, and least painful path. The place people get hurt is signing a bare-bones agreement that skips retirement accounts, debts, or tax issues, which is very hard to undo later (property terms in a dissolution can only be changed if both spouses consent in writing). This is general information, not legal advice; have a family law attorney review the agreement before you file.

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