An article on the Los Angeles Times website today mentions that basketball star Kobe Bryant and his wife Vanessa Bryant may be putting their divorce proceeding on hold to attempt to work out their marital issues and reconcile. The timing for this discussion is based on the fact that California requires anyone filing for divorce to wait at least six months before the marriage can be dissolved, and the Bryants are at the six month date of the divorce filing.  There is a slight error in the article by the LA Times, in that the six month period is not from the date of filing, but from the date of service on the other spouse, which can possibly be the same day as filing, but sometimes can be weeks or months after filing for divorce.

This is also a good reminder of how strict the California law is regarding the  six months waiting period, even celebrities have to abide by the waiting period, and there are no exceptions or ways to expedite the date of dissolution for the marriage.

The reasoning behind a six month waiting period, which is longer than many states require, is that it is to insure that the spouses are truly determined to end their marriage and there are no second thoughts or possibility of reconciliation. The Kobe Bryant case is a great example of why the law is in place. Apparently, the reason for the divorce filing may have had to do with Kobe possibly cheating on his wife, and if California allowed a quick divorce, the divorce would have been granted while Vanessa Bryant was still mad at her husband and hadn’t “cooled” off from the divorce filing. But since they are required to wait six months, they have been given time to simmer down and work on reconciling and making the marriage work. This is exactly the type of situation the law was created for, to give a “cooling off” period so that couples can be sure they want to proceed with the divorce, and aren’t acting on an impulse to quickly end the marriage.

It’s also important to remember that you can’t get remarried until the divorce is final, since sometimes a divorce judgment may be signed by a Judge, but the date of dissolution may be at a future date if the six month waiting period has not yet passed. For more information or assistance with a divorce case, contact a Burbank Divorce Attorney.