Texas Divorce Residency and Time Requirements

One spouse must be a domiciliary of the State of Texas for at least six months and a resident of a county for ninety days before a divorce can be filed.

After the divorce is filed, there is a minimum 60-day waiting period before the divorce can be granted. (In 2009 the Legislature added an exception for certain aggravated situations) Most people's cases take more than this sixty day period to find out what there is and to finalize the documents if there is to be an agreed divorce.

If a trial will be required to resolve your case, the date of trial will depend on the congestion of the court's calendar, the attorney's schedules, your schedule, the time your case is expected to take, and whether the judge or a jury will hear your case. The time varies from court to court, but six months to one year from the time a case is placed on the trial calendar is not unusual.

If you are able to reach an agreement with your spouse on all issues, the agreement can be written up in the appropriate legal paperwork and submitted to the Court for entry after all parties have signed it and the sixty day period has elapsed. In most cases, at least one party will need to go to Court for a "prove-up" of the case. We usually like for both parties to appear in court. The actual appearance before the Judge for a prove-up is approximately ten minutes, and divorce "prove-up's" are scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis every weekday morning in Dallas Divorce Courts. Procedures vary in other counties; many require a date to be set in advance.

Go to How A Texas Divorce Case Works