It has long been the case that to apply for a divorce, you need to have been married for more than one year plus one day. The plus one day element has caused some serious issues for 79 couples whose divorces are now potentially in doubt as a result of an error from the court service (or more correctly, 79 errors!) The new court portal system is supposed to streamline the process but it is far from infallible. 

You may be aware of a previous case where a client's lawyer applied for the final decree for the wrong client, but the mistake could not be rectified and the client was divorced anyway following a judgment from the President of the Family Division, Sir Andrew McFarlane.

It may be the case that these premature divorce applications will be set aside and the poor clients will have to start again, incurring thousands of pounds of extra legal costs.

For more information

For more information on the divorce process, please contact me.