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Key Takeaways Speed in divorce offers short-term relief but often creates long-term financial and strategic costs.
Deliberate pacing leads to better outcomes than rushing decisions driven by discomfort or uncertainty.
Divorce is often discussed as an emotional event, but in practice, it is also a high-stakes decision-making environment. And like many high-pressure situations in business, the instinct to move quickly can quietly produce the most costly outcomes.
In business leadership, speed is often rewarded. Acting decisively, cutting through ambiguity and pushing toward resolution are traits most executives rely on daily. But divorce operates under a different set of dynamics.
In practice, many executives and high achievers come into the process assuming that divorce should move quickly as long as they are willing to invest enough. They are used to being in control, to removing obstacles through decisive action, and to seeing timelines compress when resources are applied.
What often comes as a surprise is that divorce does not function that way.
There are limits to speed that are built into the system itself. Court calendars, statutory timelines, disclosure requirements, procedural safeguards and the need for full financial transparency impose constraints that cannot be bypassed, regardless of experience, influence or financial capacity. In some cases, attempting to force speed only introduces more friction.
When urgency replaces analysis, speed becomes a liability.
Over the years, I’ve seen how quickly the desire to “be done” can override long-term thinking. People don’t rush because they are careless. They rush because uncertainty is uncomfortable. Divorce introduces ambiguity across finances, identity, reputation and future stability — all at once. When that discomfort peaks, speed starts to feel like progress.
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