State Supreme Court says couple can’t undo their divorce

Many Colorado couples who go through a divorce are able to maintain a friendship after the ink has dried and the dust has settled. In some cases, divorced spouses rekindle their romantic relationship. A few will even remarry and give love a second chance. A far less common approach is asking the court that granted the divorce to essentially “undo” the process and reinstate the original marriage. One couple tried that approach, and recently lost at the level of their state’s Supreme Court.

Some states have provisions that authorize the courts to overturn a divorce. In order to succeed in that request, the parties usually have to prove that their divorce was filed accidentally or as an act of fraud. Simply wanting to turn back the clock is not sufficient. In this case, the higher court found that there were no elements of fraud, mistake or accident, and it upheld the lower court’s refusal to overturn the divorce.

An attorney for the state asserts that the couple’s desire to vacate the divorce was partly due to sentimental reasons, but also partly due to financial concerns. Specifically, the attorney suggested that the parties had business interests that would be easier addressed through reversing the divorce than through seeking remarriage. He went on to say that any financial difficulties that the parties endured were the direct result of their decision to seek a divorce in the first place.

The case may be of interest to many in Colorado who are considering divorce. Going through the legal process of dividing assets and dissolving a marriage is never easy. When there is any chance that reconciliation is possible, spouses should take the time and make the effort to determine if moving forward with divorce is the best course of action. As this case demonstrates, it is not a simple or easy process to reverse a divorce decree.

Source: lawyerherald.com, “New Hampshire Court turns down couple’s divorce vacation request“, Dec. 30, 2015