How to Speed Up Your Divorce and Financial Settlement 
Delays in the divorce process can cause stress, uncertainty, and unnecessary legal costs—especially when financial matters remain unresolved. Whether you’re seeking to end your marriage quickly or settle your finances without delay, there are practical steps you can take to avoid common bottlenecks. This guide explains how to speed up your divorce settlement more efficiently, with or without going to court.
But bear in mind that there are limits to speeding up the divorce itself – but there are more opportunities for you to speed up any financial settlement – and if you fail to do so, that can drag on for a year or more.
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Speeding Up the Divorce Process
Under the no-fault divorce system in England and Wales, there is a minimum 26-week period from application to final order. While this time frame is fixed, there are several simple and practical ways to ensure your divorce doesn’t take any longer than necessary:
✅ Apply jointly where possible
A joint application is often quicker than a sole application. It avoids delays with service of documents and reduces the risk of disputes or procedural errors.
✅ Respond promptly at every stage
Whether you’re the applicant or respondent, delays can occur if forms aren’t returned on time or if communication between parties, or communication between the parties and their solicitors breaks down. Prompt action helps keep the process on track. If you appoint a solicitor – get back to them quickly when they ask for your input and keep them in the loop.
✅ Get legal assistance with your application
Mistakes in the divorce application or in serving documents can add weeks or even months to the process. A specialist divorce solicitor can ensure everything is completed accurately and submitted without delay.
✅ Be ready to apply for the final order
Once the conditional order (which used to be known as decree nisi) is granted, you must wait 6 weeks and 1 day before applying for the final order (the new name for what was once known as decree absolute). Mark this date and act promptly—many delays happen simply because parties wait too long to finalise things.
➡️ While you can’t bypass the legal minimum, staying organised and supported can ensure your divorce proceeds as quickly as the law allows.
But do bear in mind, while you can get a divorce without a financial settlement, and depending on your particular circumstances, it often not advisable. As a result it’s quite common for the application for the final order in divorce to be held off until finances are sorted under a court approved consent order.
Speeding Up the Financial Settlement
In most divorces, resolving the financial side takes longer than the divorce itself. Disagreements about property, pensions, savings, or maintenance can drag out for months if not managed carefully. Here’s how to reduce delays:
✅ Start financial disclosure early
The sooner both parties exchange their Form E and supporting documents (bank statements, payslips, valuations), the sooner you can begin meaningful discussions. Incomplete or inaccurate disclosure is one of the biggest causes of delay.
Form E is the lengthy comprehensive court form that both parties need to complete with a full explanation of their financial position.
✅ Explore out-of-court resolution methods
Alternatives like mediation, collaborative law, or family arbitration can often resolve financial issues in weeks or months—rather than the 6–12 months (or more) it may take through court proceedings. Our highly experienced divorce and family law team includes jointly qualified family lawyer/mediator, a collaborative lawyer and a family arbitrator.
Click here to read more about how our family mediation and collaborative law service could help you (family mediation online is also available using video calls)
✅ Use an experienced family solicitor
Having a specialist solicitor who understands divorce financial settlements ensures documents are correctly prepared, negotiations stay focused, and unnecessary delays are avoided.
✅ Apply for a consent order without delay
Once an agreement is reached, your solicitor can draft a divorce consent order and submit it to the court. When approved by the court, this makes your settlement legally binding.
But bear in mind the court approval is not just rubber stamping. The judge will need to be satisfied that the court has all the relevant information it needs about the couple’s finances, that the settlement is reasonable and the consent order properly drafted.
A well-prepared consent order avoids queries from the judge and speeds up approval. Again that is best drafted by an experienced solicitor.
Click here to read more more about divorce and your financial settlement
How Slow is the Court System for Financial Divorce Cases?
Contested financial matters often face significant delays in the family courts. It can take 20 weeks or more, just to obtain a First Directions Appointment, with final hearings sometimes taking a year or more to schedule—especially in busy courts. And that’s on the basis that the matter is reasonably straightforward and there is an estimate that the final hearing will take no more than one day in court. For more complex issues, the delay in getting a final hearing could be much, much longer.
In fact just before writing this page, our team heard from the local court with a 1st directions appointment listed 6 months and 2 days after the application was issued!
While straightforward, uncontested financial orders tend to move more quickly, the system remains under pressure. That’s why more couples are choosing out-of-court options to avoid the backlog altogether.
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Should I Try to Negotiate Directly with My Ex-Partner?
If both parties are willing to be reasonable, direct negotiation—especially with support from solicitors—can save time and reduce costs. Even reaching agreement on some key issues can streamline the process. However, any agreement should be formalised legally to avoid future disputes or enforcement issues.
Can Arbitration Help Me Avoid Delays?
Yes. Family arbitration is a private, court-approved process where a qualified arbitrator acts as a decision-maker. You set the timetable, and the decision is binding—just like a judge’s ruling. Arbitration is often used in higher-value or time-sensitive cases and can resolve matters in weeks rather than months.
Here at Bonallack and Bishop we think the use of arbitration is likely to increase and we are encouraging many of our clients to consider it. What’s more, the head of our family law team, Dinshaw Printer, is not only a serving District Judge but also a qualified family arbitrator.
What Should I Prepare in Advance?
Speed begins with organisation. To support both the divorce and financial settlement process, you should gather:
- A completed Form E (for finances)
- Recent bank statements, payslips, P60s
- Mortgage and property valuations
- Pension valuations
- A timeline for when you’d like to apply for the final divorce order
Having these documents ready allows your solicitor to move quickly and avoid common administrative delays.
Speak to a Family Law Solicitor Today
Whether you want to finalise your divorce efficiently, resolve your finances without court, or avoid delays altogether, our experienced family law team is here to help. We work with clients both locally in Wiltshire Hampshire and Dorset, nationwide and even overseas. They can guide you through the fastest, most cost-effective route for your circumstances.
