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Premature divorce applications under MCA 1973 s 3: High Court deems final orders voidable, not void, after portal error — Lord Chancellor v 79 Divorced Couples (England and Wales)

Published on: 17 January 2025

Published by a LexisNexis Family expert
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The Lord Chancellor v 79 Divorced Couples [2024] EWHC 3211 (Fam) What are the practical implications of this case?

The Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 (DDSA 2020) took effect on 6 April 2022, delivering significant reforms to the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973. Yet section 3 of the MCA 1973 survived unchanged, providing that an application for a divorce order cannot be issued until one year has elapsed from the date of the marriage. This judgment underscores the long-established minimum interval before issuing proceedings, namely one year and one day. By way of illustration, spouses who wed on 1 April 2025 cannot lodge a divorce application before 2 April 2026. Although the DDSA 2020 brought wide changes, this restriction was retained and remains operative. The point serves as a clear prompt for practitioners to advise accurately on the timetable for divorce; accordingly, timing advice must account for this absolute waiting period from the outset. The court also reviewed earlier authorities addressing whether a final divorce order (formerly the decree absolute) is void or voidable...

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