It is important to plan the process in advance to get a divorce without delays, extra costs, and frustrations. In Hawaii, it can take from several weeks to over a year to terminate the marriage. There’s not a “one size fits all” approach to handling this life-changing event, but there are some recommendations that can significantly simplify the process.
If you want to learn how to facilitate and speed up marriage dissolution in this state, keep reading this article. We will go into detail about factors that impact the divorce process from different perspectives.
Divorce Law Basics in Hawaii
Hawaiian law provides the opportunity to file for a marriage termination if you or your spouse have lived in the state for at least six months before the time of filing. Besides, you or your partner must live in the county where the Complaint for Divorce will be filed for three months.
Residents of Hawaii can only apply for no-fault dissolution of marriage. Currently, it is the most simple and straightforward way to justify the cause of the split. You only need to cite “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for the breakup.
Since Hawaii does not allow fault-based grounds, marital misconduct doesn’t play a role in determining the speed of the divorce process.
Uncontested Divorce as the Fastest Way to End a Marriage
You can terminate the marriage through either contested or uncontested divorce. The type of divorce process selected will significantly impact the amount of time needed for marriage dissolution.
No matter if you have children or not, you can get an uncontested divorce in Hawaii. This type of marriage dissolution is a perfect choice for people who agree on all terms and cooperate fully in signing papers.
In this case, you should fill out the appropriate documents, serve your spouse, and wait for around 6-10 weeks for the divorce to be finalized. The exact number of weeks needed for granting the marriage termination depends on the Family Court workload and human resource availability. To avoid a court hearing, you should make sure that your divorce agreement is fair and meets the best interests of your children.
Apart from this, uncontested divorce is the cheapest option to end the marriage. Presently, filing fees are $215 for a couple without children, while people with minors will pay an extra $50 for a Parenting Education class.
In contrast, if you apply for a contested divorce, the whole process can take over a year if there are a variety of issues that should be resolved between the parties. For instance, the judge will have to take into account:
- division of debts and assets,
- child custody,
- spousal support,
- alimony amounts.
In addition, resolution of these issues requires the involvement of a family law attorney whose rates range between $100 to $450 per hour. Thus, a contested marriage termination is not only time-consuming but also an expensive process.
Online Divorce Services to Save Money and Time
If you are looking for a trustworthy option for quickly preparing your uncontested divorce paperwork, pay attention to online divorce companies. Nowadays, these third-party sites can prepare your marriage dissolution documentation in a matter of 24-48 hours. In turn, you will have to file the received forms at your county Family Court to start the process.
On the one hand, you can obtain appropriate divorce forms from the Hawaii State Judiciary website. However, you should remember that appropriate forms vary from island to island. The main documents that all Hawaii residents should fill out are:
- The Complaint for Divorce form
- The Summons to Answer Complaint for Divorce form
- The Matrimonial Action Information form
- The Income and Expense Statement form
- The Asset and Debt Statement
- The Affidavit of Plaintiff
- The Divorce Decree form
Some people still fail to find and fill out divorce papers accurately. Therefore, online divorce companies are in great demand, as they can get your marriage termination papers prepared online.
Also, online divorce services are widely known for:
1. Affordability.
Considering that no lawyers are necessary when you use online divorce services, you have the opportunity to save a lot of money. For example, the average price of uncontested marriage termination using online divorce services varies from $200 to $500. In contrast, a traditional legal split costs around $5,000-10,000 in the state, depending on the case’s complexity.
2. High level of court approval.
It would be disappointing to fill out marriage dissolution papers on your own, make mistakes within the marriage termination petition, and get a divorce denied, right? If you cooperate with online divorce providers, you won’t have to fill out marriage termination papers yourself. You only complete a questionnaire related to your marriage from any place at any time.
3. Great customer support.
Each person going through a dissolution of marriage has a long list of questions related to this process. This is not surprising, given that laws and regulations regularly change. If you have questions about marriage termination in Hawaii, you can contact the customer support team representatives. As a result, you will be able to make well-informed decisions in terms of your divorce.
In Conclusion
Filing for divorce in Hawaii is a complex process that can last from several weeks to over a year. It depends on the type of marriage termination you select and your approach to the resolution of divorce issues.
