How Long Does a Divorce Take in Pennsylvania? The 90-Day Wait and the One-Year Separation

Pennsylvania has two different waiting periods, and which one applies depends on the route you take.

• Mutual consent (§ 3301(c)): both spouses sign consent affidavits 90 days or more after the complaint is served. No separation is required.
• Separation (§ 3301(d)): one spouse can proceed without the other's consent once they have lived separate and apart for one year, or two years if the separation began before December 5, 2016.

Neither period is a countdown to an automatic divorce. You are divorced on the day the judge signs the decree, which comes after the paperwork described below.

Timeline calculator

The 90-day mutual-consent wait

The statute says the court may grant a mutual-consent divorce once "90 days have elapsed from the date of commencement of an action" and both spouses have filed consent affidavits (§ 3301(c)(1)). The procedural rule is stricter and is the one to follow. Rule 1920.42(a)(1)(ii) requires that "the parties have signed Affidavits of Consent 90 days or more after service of the complaint and have filed the affidavits within 30 days of signing, which may only be withdrawn by an order of court."

So the clock that matters starts when your spouse is served, not when you file. If service is delayed, the wait is delayed. And each signed affidavit has a 30-day shelf life: file it within 30 days of signing or sign again.

After the affidavits:

• If both spouses sign Waivers of Notice of Intention, the Praecipe to Transmit Record can be filed once any money claims are resolved.
• If not, the spouse asking for the decree serves a Notice of Intention and must "wait a minimum of 20 days after service of the Notice of Intention to File the Praecipe to Transmit Record before filing the Praecipe to Transmit Record."

Then the file goes to a judge. Processing time varies by county. Allegheny County, for example, has set November 1, 2026 as the date to file the praecipe if you want the decree reviewed before the end of the year.

The one-year separation

Section 3301(d) allows a divorce when an affidavit shows the spouses "have lived separate and apart for a period of at least one year and that the marriage is irretrievably broken." The other spouse's consent isn't needed.

Which period applies to you. The one-year rule came from Act 102 of 2016. It applies to separations that began on or after December 5, 2016; for a separation that began before then, the period is two years. The official affidavit forms under Rule 1920.72 ask you to state which applies.

What counts as separate. "Separate and apart" means "Cessation of cohabitation, whether living in the same residence or not" (§ 3103). Moving out isn't required. If your spouse disputes the date, it's a question of fact for the court. Filing and serving a divorce complaint fixes a latest possible date: the law presumes you separated "not later than the date that the complaint was served."

Can you file before the year is up? Yes. The statute and Rule 1920.42(c) require the separation period to have passed when the affidavit is signed and filed, not when the complaint is filed, and Philadelphia's official divorce brochure says you may file before living apart for a year but cannot finalize the divorce until the time has passed. The statewide self-help page's instructions for this route tell people to wait the full period before filing the complaint, so check your county's practice. Filing early can make sense: service starts the presumption of separation, and economic claims can get underway.

After the affidavit:

1. Serve the affidavit and a blank counter-affidavit, the way original process is served.
2. Your spouse has 20 days to file a counter-affidavit; if he or she doesn't deny the affidavit, its statements are deemed admitted.
3. At least 20 days after serving the affidavit, serve a Notice of Intention (unless waived).
4. At least 20 days after that, file the Praecipe to Transmit Record.

That's roughly 40 days from serving the affidavit to filing the praecipe, before the judge's review.

The reconciliation continuance

If your spouse denies the affidavit and the court, after a hearing, sees "a reasonable prospect of reconciliation," it must "continue the matter for a period not less than 90 days nor more than 120 days unless the parties agree to a period in excess of 120 days," and require counseling during that time (§ 3301(d)(2)). A spouse who is a victim of abuse can't be ordered into counseling over his or her objection (§ 3302(g)).

Contested cases take longer

When property or alimony is disputed, the decree usually waits for the money issues. Once grounds are established, the court enters an order approving grounds; only then can a party ask a judge or hearing officer to hear the claims (Rule 1920.42(a)(2)–(3)). Add the inventory and pretrial statement deadlines, the hearing, and 20 days to file exceptions to a hearing officer's report (Rule 1920.55-2(b)). A contested case can take a year or more. With both spouses' consent, the court can grant the divorce first and decide the money later (§ 3323(c.1)).

Service deadlines

The 90-day consent clock can't start until your spouse is served. Under Rule 1930.4(e), original process must be served within 30 days of filing in Pennsylvania, or within 90 days outside it. If it isn't, the complaint can be reinstated by praecipe and served again. Proof of service is due within 10 days of service.

After the decree

• Remarriage. Pennsylvania has no waiting period to remarry after a divorce. The only wait is the general rule that a marriage license can't issue before "the third day following the making of application therefor" (23 Pa.C.S. § 1303).
• Appeal. A notice of appeal must be filed "within 30 days after the entry of the order" (Pa.R.A.P. 903(a)). There are no post-trial motions in divorce cases (Rule 1930.2), and asking for reconsideration doesn't stop the 30-day clock.
• Opening the decree. A motion to open a decree for intrinsic fraud or new evidence must be made within the time allowed by 42 Pa.C.S. § 5505, normally 30 days. A motion to vacate for extrinsic fraud, lack of jurisdiction over the subject matter, or a fatal defect on the face of the record "must be made within five years after entry of the final decree" (§ 3332).

Where these sections live

• 23 Pa.C.S. § 3301 — Grounds for divorce
• 23 Pa.C.S. § 3103 — Definitions ("separate and apart")
• Pa.R.C.P. 1920.42 — Obtaining a no-fault decree
• Pa.R.C.P. 1920.72 — Affidavit forms
• Pa.R.C.P. 1930.4 — Service deadlines
• Pa.R.C.P. 1930.2 — No post-trial practice
• Pa.R.C.P. 1920.55-2 — Exceptions to a hearing officer's report