Can divorce be stopped?

Can a divorce be stopped, once the procedure has started?

One of the questions that we are sometimes asked is whether a divorce can be stopped or 'cancelled' prior to the decree being made absolute.

The answer to this question is an unconditional YES; divorce can be stopped provided that both parties agree.

If you reconcile at any stage, even after the pronouncement of the decree nisi, you can ask the Court to rescind the decree and dismiss the petition.  The effect of this, from a legal point of view, is as if the petition had never been issued.

If both parties agree to the recision [the act of cancelling or rescinding], the application can be made in writing and there is no need for anyone to attend Court or explain in person the reasons for the decision.

As a lawyer, one quite often has to think of ways in which the available procedures can be used to overcome problems which have no obvious solution.  Sometimes a solution is available by using a procedure that was never intended to address the particular problem that has arisen.  Luckily the judges in the family courts are sufficiently pragmatic to allow the procedures to be used in this way.

For instance, in exceptional cases, the parties may want to rescind the decree nisi for reasons other than reconciliation.  When the legislation allowing pension sharing was introduced, the new rules only applied to divorces based on petitions which had been issued after 1st December 2000.  Sometime after a petition had been issued and after the pronouncement of their decree nisi, a husband and wife agreed that the most sensible solution to the financial consequences of their separation would be for the wife to receive a share of the husband's pension fund. 

However, because the petition had been issued before the beginning of December 2000 the Court had no power to make a pension sharing order.  With the agreement of all concerned, the decree nisi was rescinded by the Court and a new petition issued.  Following the pronouncement of the decree nisi, based on the new petition, the Court had the power to make a pension sharing order.

For more information about divorce contact, Anne Blenkinsop, Partner specialising in Family Law matters.