Nearly 80 former couples thought they were divorced - thanks to a Family Court blunder they were wrong
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The 79 former pairs had made a mistake in their divorce applications two years ago that wasn’t picked up by the courts when the break-ups were approved months later. A judge has given nearly 80 separated couples a chance to rethink their breakups thanks to a bizarre administrative blunder that saw their divorces wrongly approved.
![[Couples can apply for a divorce after exactly a year of marriage]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/12/20/11/iStock-1600279142.jpg)
The 79 former pairs had made a mistake in their divorce applications two years ago that wasn’t picked up by the courts when the break-ups were approved some months later. The mistakes were only later noticed by officials in April 2024. The separated couples have now been handed a deadline by Family Court president Sir Andrew McFarlane to challenge their separations before they are finally ruled lawful next month - and if not the court will rule they were in fact lawfully separated in 2022.
![[President of Family Division Sir Andrew McFarlane (left), with Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett and Sir James Holman British Judge of the High Court of England and Wales]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/12/20/11/PA-67335984.jpg)
“Some have written to the [minister] expressing their concern and distress at the position they find themselves to be in,” Sir Andrew said, adding it was unknown what financial and property arrangements had been made as a result of these faulty declarations.
“It is also not known whether children have been born whose status might be affected by the decisions of this court, or whether other rights relating to inheritance or immigration might also be impacted.”. Couples can only apply for a divorce order a year after the date of their marriage. These 79 accidentally applied on their anniversary date, not the day after their anniversary, as is the law - and an error in the online application portal failed to pick up the fault.
