What is a quickie divorce?

Again, with the sad news of another celebrity marriage on the rocks, the media trot out the same old nonsense about 'quickie divorce', causing divorce lawyers all over the country to roll their eyes and tut in frustration.

This myth of quickie divorce has been doing the rounds for years, and year upon year people come into the office wanting to know why they can't have one too.

It doesn't matter who you are or how much money you have, there is no such thing. The law is the same for everyone. If you want to divorce before you have been separated for 2 years, currently you have to cite the other party as having committed adultery or have behaved so unreasonably that you can't tolerate living with them.

No matter what the basis for the divorce, whether fault based or on separation, the process is the same and it takes the same length of time for everyone. Some courts might process paperwork at different rates but even then, the time scale has always been 4-6 months for everyone as a general rule of thumb. I've been advising clients that this is the case for nearly 30 years and nothing has changed irrespective of what the media still say.