How long does it take to divorce in China？

By David Gao

As you know, divorce takes time. The time period for a divorce procedure various from country to country. How long will it take in China? Well, it depends on various factors, such as whether the couple can reach consensus on divorce, the complexity of the case, the case load of the court having jurisdiction on the case etc.
 
1. Divorce by registration
If the couple can reach an agreement on divorce, child custody /support and split of property and debts, and if one of them is a Chinese national having a Hukou in the mainland, they may divorce through registration. As the Civil Code stipulates a 30-day cooling-off period for divorce, it takes more than a month (31-60 days) from pre-registration to actually acquire the divorce certificate.
 
2. Mutually agreed divorce by court litigation  
In some cases, although the couples reaches consensus on everything regarding divorce, they can not get divorce by registration procedure due to some causes. In such a situation, they will have to file with the court for divorce.
The procedure in court litigation may include case filing, serving a summons, arranging pretrial mediation, assigning a judge and scheduling a court hearing etc. If it goes smoothly, such procedure could last one month. In some circumstances, it could last several months.   
 
3. Contested divorce by court litigation
In this situation, the starting procedure is similar with the above one. However, when it comes to court trial phase, it usually takes much longer time. Since there are disputes between the couples, either party may file application for court investigation, authentication which prolong the time. If the case is complicated, it may need multiple court sessions.  
Further more, if the defendant does not agree divorce, and the plaintiff fails to provide evidence to support statutory divorce, it is likely that the judge will refuse to grant divorce. In such situation, the plaintiff will have to wait for another six months to file a divorce case again.
 
4. Divorce litigation but failing to reach the other party abroad
This is one of the most difficult challenges for the plaintiff. If you can not reach the other party abroad, or the other party refuses to cooperate the divorce, the court will have to service a summons by diplomatic channels or the Hague Convention, as the case may be. If the service fails by the above method, it has to be served again by public notice. A sheer service procedure could take months, and the whole divorce could be time consuming, and last two or three years. 

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