| State | Residency to file | Waiting period / timeline |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | The plaintiff (or the defendant) must have lived in Alabama for 6 months before filing. | A 30-day waiting period after filing before the final decree. (Ala. Code § 30-2-8.1) |
| Alaska | You must be an Alaska resident when you file (no minimum length). | For a joint dissolution, a hearing is held about 30+ days after filing. |
| Arizona | One spouse must have been domiciled in Arizona for 90 days before filing. | A 60-day waiting period after the other spouse is served before the decree can be entered. |
| Arkansas | One spouse must meet Arkansas’s residency requirement (generally 60 days before filing and 3 months before the decree). | A divorce cannot be granted sooner than 30 days after filing. |
| California | You must have lived in California for 6 months and in the county where you file for 3 months before filing. (Fam. Code § 2320) | At least 6 months from the date your spouse is served (or first appears) before your marriage can legally end. (Fam. Code § 2339) |
| Colorado | One spouse must have been domiciled in Colorado for 91 days before filing. | A mandatory 91-day waiting period from filing (or from service) before the decree can enter — it cannot be waived. |
| Connecticut | Generally one spouse must have lived in Connecticut for 12 months before the divorce is final. | The standard track has about a 90-day waiting period after the "return date" (waivable by joint motion); the nonadversarial track can finish in about 35 days. (C.G.S. § 46b-67) |
| Delaware | One spouse must have been a Delaware resident for 6 months before filing. | The 6-month separation is the main requirement before the decree can enter. |
| District of Columbia | One spouse must have lived in DC for 6 months before filing. | No post-filing statutory waiting period. |
| Florida | At least one spouse must have lived in Florida for 6 months before filing (proved by a Florida driver license/ID or a… | At least 20 days between filing and the final hearing (a judge can waive this only to avoid injustice). |
| Georgia | One spouse must have lived in Georgia for 6 months before filing. | A judgment cannot be entered sooner than 31 days after the other spouse is served or acknowledges service. |
| Hawaii | One spouse must have been domiciled or physically present in Hawaii for 6 months before filing. (HRS 580-1) | No separation period; uncontested cases can often be decided by affidavit without a hearing (varies by circuit). |
| Idaho | One spouse must have been an Idaho resident for 6 full weeks (42 days) — one of the shortest in the country. (Idaho Code § 32-701) | No long statutory wait; a divorce cannot be finalized sooner than 20 days after service on the default timeline. |
| Illinois | One spouse must have lived in Illinois for 90 days before the judgment. (750 ILCS 5/401) | No fixed post-filing waiting period for an agreed divorce; a 6-month separation creates a presumption of irreconcilable differences, which spouses can waive by agreement. |
| Indiana | One spouse must have lived in Indiana for 6 months and in the filing county for 3 months. (IC 31-15-2-6) | A mandatory 60-day waiting period after filing before the decree — it cannot be waived, even in a fully agreed case. (IC 31-15-2-10) |
| Iowa | The petitioner must have been an Iowa resident for 1 year (unless the other spouse is an Iowa resident served in the state).… | A 90-day waiting period after the original notice is served before the decree can enter. |
| Kansas | One spouse must have lived in Kansas for 60 days before filing — one of the shortest requirements. (K.S.A. 23-2703) | A 60-day waiting period after filing before the decree (an emergency waiver is possible). |
| Kentucky | One spouse must have lived in Kentucky for 180 days before filing. (KRS 403.140) | The spouses must have lived apart for 60 days before the decree can enter ("living apart" can include the same residence without cohabitation). (KRS 403.044) |
| Louisiana | One spouse must be domiciled in Louisiana; venue must be the correct parish (this is jurisdictional and cannot be waived). | You must live separate and apart for 180 days (365 days with minor children) as part of the process. |
| Maine | The plaintiff must have lived in Maine for 6 months (with alternatives if you married in Maine or the other spouse is a Maine… | A 60-day waiting period between filing/service and the final hearing. |
| Maryland | If the grounds arose in Maryland, you only need to be a resident when you file; otherwise one spouse must have lived in Maryland… | A mutual-consent divorce has no separation waiting period; timing depends on the court’s calendar. |
| Massachusetts | One spouse must have lived in MA for at least 1 year, OR the grounds for divorce occurred in MA while you lived here as a… | After a 1A joint petition is approved, judgment nisi enters about 30 days later and becomes absolute 90 days after that — roughly a 120-day tail to a final divorce. |
| Michigan | One spouse must have lived in Michigan for 180 days and in the filing county for 10 days. | A statutory wait after filing: 60 days with no minor children, or 6 months (180 days) with children (reducible to 60 in hardship). |
| Minnesota | One spouse must have lived in Minnesota for 180 days before filing. | No statutory post-filing waiting period; an agreed dissolution can move as fast as the court’s calendar allows. |
| Mississippi | One spouse must have lived in Mississippi for 6 months before filing. | The complaint must be on file at least 60 days before the divorce can be granted. |
| Missouri | One spouse must have lived in Missouri for 90 days before filing. | A 30-day minimum after filing before a judgment can be entered. |
| Montana | One spouse must have been domiciled in Montana for 90 days. | No fixed post-filing wait for a joint petition; timing depends on the court. |
| Nebraska | One spouse must have lived in Nebraska for 1 year (or you married in Nebraska and have always lived there). | A 60-day waiting period after service before the decree; it becomes final after 30 days, but neither spouse can remarry for 6 months. |
| Nevada | Only 6 weeks of residency by one spouse — the shortest in the country — plus a resident-witness affidavit. | No waiting period — a joint petition can be granted as soon as the court processes it. |
| New Hampshire | Both spouses domiciled in NH, or the petitioner domiciled here with the other spouse served in NH (roughly a 1-year connection). | No statutory waiting period; timing depends on the court’s calendar. |
| New Jersey | One spouse must have lived in NJ for at least 12 months before filing (except for the adultery ground). | No statutory post-filing waiting period; the irreconcilable differences must have existed for at least 6 months before you file. |
| New Mexico | One spouse must have been domiciled in New Mexico for 6 months before filing. | No statutory waiting period; timing depends on the court’s calendar. |
| New York | One spouse must generally have lived in NY for at least 1 year with a NY connection (married in NY, lived in NY as spouses, or… | No fixed post-filing waiting period. The marriage must have been irretrievably broken for at least 6 months before you file; timing after that depends on the county clerk and court calendar. |
| North Carolina | One spouse must have lived in North Carolina for 6 months before filing. | No post-filing waiting period, but you must have been separated for a full year before you file; the other spouse has 30 days to answer. |
| North Dakota | The plaintiff must have lived in North Dakota for 6 months before filing. | No post-filing waiting period; stipulated (agreed) divorces are usually granted on the papers without a hearing. |
| Ohio | One spouse must have lived in Ohio for 6 months (and usually 90 days in the county) before filing. | In a dissolution, the court holds a hearing 30–90 days after filing, and both spouses must appear. |
| Oklahoma | One spouse must have lived in Oklahoma for 6 months and in the filing county for 30 days. | A decree can issue 10 days after filing with no minor children, or 90 days with minor children (waivable for cause); a co-parenting class is usually required. |
| Oregon | One spouse must have lived in Oregon for 6 months (unless you were married in Oregon). | No waiting period — Oregon abolished the old 90-day wait in 2011, so a judge can sign as soon as the paperwork is complete. |
| Pennsylvania | One spouse must have lived in Pennsylvania for at least 6 months before filing. | For a mutual-consent divorce, a 90-day waiting period runs from when the complaint is served before both spouses sign their consent affidavits. |
| Rhode Island | One spouse must have lived in Rhode Island for 1 year. | Expect about 5–6 months total: a nominal hearing about 2.5 months after filing, and final judgment cannot enter until 3 months after the decision. |
| South Carolina | The plaintiff must have lived in South Carolina for 1 year (or 3 months if both spouses are SC residents). | The one-year separation is the main requirement; the case then proceeds to a final hearing. |
| South Dakota | No minimum length — you must be a bona fide South Dakota resident when you file and stay one until the decree. | A mandatory 60-day waiting period from service of the summons/complaint before the decree. |
| Tennessee | If the grounds arose out of state, one spouse must have lived in Tennessee for 6 months; there is no length requirement if the… | A waiting period from filing of 60 days without minor children, or 90 days with minor children. (T.C.A. § 36-4-101) |
| Texas | One spouse must have lived in Texas for 6 months and in the filing county for 90 days. (Tex. Fam. Code § 6.301) | A 60-day waiting period from the day you file before the divorce can be finalized (waived only in family-violence cases). (Tex. Fam. Code § 6.702) |
| Utah | One spouse must have lived in a single Utah county for 3 months before filing. | A 30-day waiting period between filing and the final decree (waivable for extraordinary circumstances). |
| Vermont | You must have lived in Vermont for 6 months to file, and one spouse for a year before the final hearing. | A 3-month "nisi" period after the decree before it becomes final (can be shortened/waived). |
| Virginia | One spouse must have been a resident and domiciliary of Virginia for 6 months before filing. | The main wait is the separation period itself (6 months or 1 year); after that, an uncontested divorce can often proceed by affidavit without a hearing. |
| Washington | No length-of-residency requirement — you only need to be a Washington resident when you file. | A 90-day waiting period from the date you file and serve before the court can finalize the divorce. |
| West Virginia | One spouse must have lived in West Virginia for 1 year (or you married in WV and one spouse still lives there). | No fixed post-filing waiting period; the one-year separation ground requires the year of living apart first. |
| Wisconsin | One spouse must have lived in Wisconsin for 6 months and in the filing county for 30 days. | A mandatory 120-day waiting period from filing/service to the final hearing. |
| Wyoming | One spouse must have lived in Wyoming for 60 days before filing — one of the shortest in the nation. | A 20-day minimum from the filing of the complaint before the decree (measured from filing, not service). |
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Timelines are general and depend on your court’s calendar; confirm with your court. General information, not legal advice. LawCat is not a law firm.