The amount of time it takes to get divorced depends on whether the divorce is contested or uncontested. If a party were to file a joint petition for divorce with an agreement and all the paperwork required, a hearing would most likely be scheduled within 2 to 3 months.With a joint petition for divorce the court would have 30 days from the date of the hearing to approve the agreement. The divorce would be final 90 days later for a total of 120 days.

If filing a contested divorce (under M.G.L. c. 208 sec. 1B), the court will not schedule a hearing on divorce until six months from the date of filing. A contested divorce under ch. 208 sec. 1B will be final 90 days after the hearing.

The court has time standards for completing divorces. Under these time standards,  it is expected that a divorce case would be finalized within 14 months. In the case of complex and highly complicated divorces, the case may be finalized after the length of time allowed by the time standards.