Is It Too Late to Stop the Divorce?

So you’ve used me to prepare the documents for your uncontested divorce, and now you and your spouse are having second thoughts. Is it too late to stop the divorce? This page is about the options available to you at each step of the way.

You haven’t yet signed the documents

No problem. Just don’t sign them. I would appreciate a heads-up email, but that’s just to help me. If you want, you can simply do nothing.

You’ve signed the documents, but you haven’t yet delivered them to me for filing.

Ditto. You may want to hold on to the documents for a few weeks, or you may choose to destroy them as a shared gesture of your commitment. I’m easy either way. Just please don’t send them to me. Once I get divorce documents in the mail, I’m like a mule headed to the barn, and my natural instinct will be to move them toward the courthouse for filing.

You’ve delivered the documents to me, but your check of the client site shows there’s not yet a case number shown for your divorce case.

No problem. Let me know right away that you want to stop the divorce, and if I haven’t yet filed them I will pull them out. If I have filed them, you’ve lost the filing fee and will need to pay me $125 to dismiss the case, but we can still stop it. Just know that I cannot file to “slow down” the divorce, only to stop it. So if I file to stop it and you later decide to go through with a divorce, we’ll need to start again, sign new papers, and pay a new filing fee. You won’t have to pay me like it’s a new case though; instead, you’ll pay just for the extra time it takes me to process the new documents.

You have a case number on the client site, but there’s no entry showing that I’ve sent the decree to you.

By now you have lost the filing fee and you will need to pay me $125 for me to file to dismiss your case, but if you notify me quickly we can still stop it in plenty of time. Just know that I cannot file to “slow down” the divorce, only to stop it. So if I file to stop it and you later decide to go through with a divorce, we’ll need to start again.

I’ve already sent a signed divorce decree to you and your spouse, but less than 30 days has passed since the judge signed the divorce decree.

There’s probably still time (the $125 charge still applies), although the closer we get to that magic 30 days number, the dicier the timing gets, and there’s no grace period.

I’ve already sent a signed divorce decree to you and your spouse, and more than 30 days has passed since the judge signed the divorce decree.

I’m sorry, it’s too late. I’m delighted to hear you and your Ex are reconciling, but you’ll need to remarry.

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