Married in a day, but six months to divorce.

Love. It can happen at first sight and within a day, at least in Las Vegas, you could swear to honor and obey the man or woman of your dreams.

While you could theoretically be married within 24 hours, in California, you can’t be divorced any sooner than six months from the date of filing, and that’s assuming you and your soon-to-be ex-spouse agree on the terms of the dissolution.

There are several reasons for the waiting period. Most important is that the courts want to give you time to be sure you really want to dissolve the marriage.

Please note, however, that just because the six months have lapsed does not mean you are automatically divorced. Assuming the other party has responded to the Petition for Dissolution, you could be looking at anywhere from six months and a day to several years before you are formally divorced.