How To Cancel A Divorce

Just about any couple that’s been married for awhile can tell you that staying happy together is a constant challenge and takes a lot of work. When one or both partners decide they want a divorce, that doesn’t always mean the marriage has completely failed. It’s not uncommon for couples to start down the path of divorce, only to change their minds midway through. When that happens, it’s time to figure out how to cancel a divorce.
 

Reasons To Cancel A Divorce

While every couple is unique, we’re all human, and there are some common reasons that couples may decide to get divorced, only to change their minds at a later date and decide to stay together.

Common reasons to cancel a divorce include:

• Cooling Off: Sometimes what a couple needs isn’t a divorce, but just time to cool off and re-evaluate their feelings for each other and their relationship.
• Counseling: If both spouses still care about each other but have persistent problems, they may decide to seek counseling instead of going through with a divorce.
• Children: While perhaps not the best reason to stay married, some couples choose to cancel a divorce for the sake of raising their children together.
• Religion and/or beliefs: When one or both spouses have strong personal or religious beliefs about the consequences of divorce, they may reconsider look for an alternate solution.

Those aren’t the only reasons couples decide to cancel a divorce, and couples may decide to stay together for a variety of reasons including some or none of those mentioned above.
 

Cancelling A Divorce

The actual act of cancelling a divorce is actually fairly straightforward. The most important criteria is that both spouses must want to stop their divorce proceedings. If only one spouse wants to cancel a divorce, that’s not sufficient. The courts cannot prevent one spouse from divorcing the other, no matter how badly the other wants to remain married.

Assuming both spouses have decided to stop their divorce proceedings, the next step is for the spouse that filed the petition for divorce to file a request for dismissal. Once the court receives a proof of service establishing that your spouse was served with your dismissal request, it will dismiss the petition of divorce and terminate the divorce proceeding.

The actual process and paperwork to cancel a divorce may vary from state to state and county to county, so it’s important to either get legal help from a reputable divorce attorney in your area, or do some research on your own to make sure you and your spouse fully understand the proceedings and implications.