The honest answer nobody gives you at the first consultation – a contested divorce in Macomb County typically takes 9 to 18 months. Complex cases with business interests, custody disputes, or uncooperative spouses can stretch past two years.
That is not a worst-case scare tactic. It is the realistic timeline that factors in court scheduling, discovery, mediation requirements, and the pace at which two people who disagree on important things can actually resolve those disagreements through a legal system that does not move as fast as anyone wants it to.
If you are facing a contested divorce in Macomb County and wondering what the next year or two of your life looks like, here is a phase-by-phase breakdown of what actually happens and how long each stage takes.
What Makes a Divorce “Contested” in Michigan
A contested divorce does not mean hostile, though it can be. It means you and your spouse disagree on at least one significant issue: property division, spousal support, child custody, parenting time, or child support.
Under Michigan’s no-fault statute, MCL 552.6, you do not need to prove wrongdoing to get divorced. You allege a breakdown of the marriage relationship, and the statute tells you to use its language and no other explanation.
But the no-fault label reaches only the grounds. Everything after it, how property is divided under MCL 552.19 and MCL 552.23(1), whether spousal support is warranted, and how custody is determined, can be fiercely contested.
Month 1 to 3: Filing, Service, and Temporary Orders
The divorce begins when one spouse files a Complaint for Divorce at the Macomb County Circuit Court, Family Division, in Mount Clemens. The filing fee is $150, plus a $25 electronic filing system fee, plus another $80 where the custody or parenting time of a minor child is to be determined. MCL 600.2529(1)(a), (1)(d)(i); MCL 600.1986(1)(a). That is $175 to open a case without minor children and $255 with them.
The other spouse must be served and then has 21 days to answer, or 28 days if served outside Michigan or by registered mail. MCR 2.108(A)(1), (2). Michigan also gates the judgment on residency. One of the parties must have lived in this state for 180 days, and in the county where the complaint is filed for 10 days, immediately before filing. MCL 552.9(1).
One statute sets the waiting period, and it runs from the day the complaint is filed. No proofs or testimony may be taken until 60 days have passed, and where there are dependent minor children under 18, not until six months have passed. MCL 552.9f. These are floors, not targets. Almost no contested divorce finishes anywhere near them.
During this early phase, either spouse can request temporary orders addressing immediate needs: who stays in the house, temporary custody and parenting time, temporary child and spousal support, and restraining provisions preventing either party from hiding assets or running up debt. The court can also order one spouse to pay the sums necessary to enable the other to carry on or defend the action while it is pending, which is the authority behind an award of interim attorney fees. MCL 552.13(1).
Temporary order hearings in Macomb County are typically scheduled within a few weeks of the request, but contested temporary orders can take longer if multiple hearings are needed. Expect this phase to consume 1 to 3 months.
The decisions made in the first 60 days of a contested divorce set the trajectory for everything that follows. Temporary orders establish the status quo, and judges pay attention to what has been working when they make final decisions months later.
Month 3 to 8: Discovery
Discovery is where contested divorces either stay on track or go sideways. This is the formal process of exchanging financial information: tax returns, bank statements, retirement account statements, business records, real estate documents, and anything else relevant to dividing a marital estate.
In straightforward cases where both parties are transparent, discovery can wrap up in 3 to 4 months. In complex cases involving business valuations, questions about hidden assets, executive compensation packages, or disputes about what is marital versus separate property, discovery can stretch to 6 months or longer.
Two things drive discovery timelines in Macomb County contested divorces. Business valuations take time. If one spouse owns a business, a forensic accountant typically needs 2 to 4 months to complete a valuation, both sides may retain their own experts, and disagreements over methodology add weeks of back and forth.
Uncooperative parties slow everything down. When one spouse drags his feet on producing documents, the other side has to go to the judge to get them, and motion practice has a timeline of its own.
Month 6 to 12: Mediation and Settlement Negotiations
Mediation is not optional in the way most people assume. Divorce actions that involve the distribution of property are subject to mediation under the court rules, and the court may send any contested issue to mediation on a party’s motion or on its own initiative. MCR 3.216(A)(1), (C)(1). Macomb County judges routinely do so before scheduling trial.
Most mediations are scheduled after discovery is substantially complete, because meaningful negotiation requires both sides to understand the full financial picture. In Macomb County, expect mediation to be scheduled 1 to 3 months after discovery closes, depending on court schedules and mediator availability.
The mediation itself may take a single day or multiple sessions spread over weeks. The majority of contested divorces in Michigan settle at or after mediation without going to trial.
Month 10 to 18+: Trial Preparation, Motions and Trial
If your case does not settle, trial preparation begins in earnest: finalizing witness lists, preparing exhibits, drafting trial briefs, and potentially scheduling additional depositions. Getting a trial date in Macomb County then depends on the court’s docket. From the point mediation fails to the actual trial date, expect 1 to 3 months or more. Contested divorce trials themselves typically last 1 to 5 days depending on the number of issues in dispute and the complexity of the evidence.
Motions are the part of the timeline nobody budgets for. A motion to compel discovery, a motion for temporary relief, a motion to adjourn, a motion in limine before trial. Each one has to be briefed, scheduled on a docket that is already full, heard, and then reduced to an order, and the issue it concerns does not move while that runs. Discovery motions are the expensive kind, because the relief is usually more time to produce what should have been produced already, so the discovery period stretches along with the motion. Two or three contested motions is how a twelve-month divorce becomes an eighteen-month divorce.
Beyond motion practice, two things push a case past 18 months more often than anything else. When custody is seriously contested the court may order a custody evaluation by a mental health professional, which takes 2 to 4 months and must be finished before trial. And when a party changes attorneys mid-case, the continuance that follows moves the whole schedule back. After trial, the judge issues a decision and the Judgment of Divorce is entered, and post-trial motions for reconsideration or clarification can add weeks before anything is truly final.
Most clients are surprised by how long the gap is between mediation failing and the trial actually starting. Court dockets are full. Judges have hundreds of cases. Your case is important to you, but the system moves at its own pace.
What This Timeline Means for Your Budget
Time is money in a contested divorce. Attorneys bill by the hour, so every month the case stays open adds cost. The most effective way to control what it costs is to control the timeline, which means being organized, responsive with document production, and realistic about settlement.
Frequently Asked Questions About Contested Divorce Timelines in Macomb County Michigan
Yes, but not below 60 days. MCL 552.9f lets the court take testimony any time after 60 days from filing, on petition and a proper showing of unusual hardship or of such compelling necessity as appeals to the conscience of the court. Even with a reduction, a contested divorce with children takes far longer than 60 days to resolve the substantive issues.
In practice, yes. Divorce actions involving the distribution of property are subject to mediation under MCR 3.216(A)(1), the court may order it on its own initiative, and Macomb County judges routinely do before scheduling trial. The majority of cases settle at that stage. If mediation is unsuccessful, you retain all rights to proceed to trial.
Take the First Step: Talk to a Macomb County Divorce Attorney
A contested divorce is not won by the party who is angriest. It is won by the party whose file is in order when the other side is still looking for documents, because the timeline is what costs money and the timeline is driven by whoever is slower. That is why the first 60 days matter out of proportion to their length, and why an early, honest read on which of your issues are actually contested is worth more than any argument made a year later.
Boroja, Bernier & Associates handles contested divorces in Macomb, Oakland and Wayne Counties and across Southeast, Central and Mid-Michigan. We do not sugarcoat timelines or underestimate costs. To schedule a consultation, call (586) 991-7611.
About the Author
Joel Bernier, Esq. is a founding partner of Boroja, Bernier & Associates PLLC, where he leads the firm’s divorce and family law practice. He has practiced Michigan divorce and family law since 2010 (Bar No. P74226).
