Why Does Divorce Take So Long in California? What Can Delay Your Case

The top three reasons why divorces in California take so long. Number three is the schedule — the court schedule. Meaning it follows holidays, which are federal and state, and there's a lot of them. Also, the court opens up to the public at 8:30 and it closes at 4:30. That means that you have, theoretically, eight hours. But you really don't, because there's two 15-minute breaks, one in the morning, one in the afternoon, and an hour and a half lunch period. That leaves a total of six net hours — assuming that the calendar is not also impacted by ex parte hearings and other things. It's not the court's fault, meaning it's not the judge's fault, but it's the way that it works, because there are union employees. The number two reason would be continuances. Continuances are frequent, and they are a necessary evil, in my opinion. I oppose them all the time. Rarely am I successful. The standard is good cause — that just means whatever the judge thinks is good cause to continue. Oftentimes they have no choice, because of the schedule, because of the other constraints. Things just don't get done on time. You can't finish, and you have to continue to another date. The number one reason is the budget. The California Superior Court Family Court Division has a very limited budget — nowhere near the amount of money that is required for the current caseload, the new filings. And remember, the filings include, and the cases include, domestic violence restraining orders. There's an awful lot there. They don't have enough departments. They don't have enough judges to staff the departments. They don't have enough staff to make things go faster and easier, like research attorneys.