You should know that the dates of divorce offered in profiles here at Internet Accuracy Project are almost always the date the divorce in question was final.

Many autobiographies, biographies and reference books offer contradictory dates of divorce because of a lack of uniformity in what they feel constitutes a "divorce date." For some individuals, a researcher may be able to find as many as 5 or 6 different reported divorce dates. This is usually due to the fact some dates are actually the date the divorce papers were filed, others may be the date the individuals separated, while others may be the date of their initial divorce court appearance. On a number of occasions when a celebrity has specifically addressed their divorce in interviews or their autobiography, the date they have reported has turned out to be the date of their initial separation, not the date the divorce was actually final.

When divorce papers are filed in the latter part of the year, the divorce is often not final until the following year. This is how you end up with differing years of divorce. Just as a marriage is not complete until the bride and groom are "pronounced" man and wife, a divorce is not complete until the date it is final. This is why we always try and offer the date the divorce was final.