By Alison Green, Partner and Head of the Family and Relationship Team
The recent High Court ruling on the validity of 79 divorces, mistakenly approved due to an administrative error in the HM Courts & Tribunals Service’s (HMCTS) computer system, has brought much-needed clarity for those impacted by the mistake.
The Lord Chancellor v 79 Divorced Couples case arose from a technical fault that allowed divorce applications to be submitted prematurely – just one day before they were legally permissible.
Under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, a divorce application cannot be submitted until at least one year has passed since the date of the marriage, a period the courts have long interpreted as one year and one day.
The court was told that numerous respondents had felt “significant distress” not knowing whether or not they were legally divorced from their former partners.
Although the problem was initially identified in late 2022, a failure to conduct a thorough investigation meant that 79 cases proceeded to final orders before the error was fully addressed.
The court has determined that these divorces are voidable, rather than automatically void.
This ruling is crucial for those affected, as it avoids unnecessary disruption to individuals who have already remarried, started financial settlements or made life plans based on the finality of their divorce.
Without this decision, these couples could have discovered they were not legally divorced, which would invalidate their remarriages, create uncertainty about the status of children born after the presumed divorce, and potentially overturn any financial remedy orders made in connection with the divorce.
The judgment emphasised that automatically invalidating the divorces would be disproportionate and could harm public interest.
It also serves as a reminder of the critical role an administrative oversight can play in the legal process and that errors – no matter how small – can have far-reaching consequences if left unchecked.
The court noted that had the issue been properly investigated by HMCTS at the outset, this situation could have been entirely avoided.
If you are one of the 158 individuals affected by this error, you now have until 31 January 2025 to submit your statement to the court outlining your wish for the divorce to be declared void, if this is what you want.
If, however, you would like the divorce to remain valid, you will not need to do anything, as any orders not challenged by the end of January will remain legally valid.
If you have been affected by this ruling or require advice on related matters, please contact Alison Green, Partner and Head of the Family and Relationship Team at alison.green@mackrell.com or on 0207 240 0521.