Author of the article: Lina Smirnova Last modified: January 2021 36261
Family relationships are not always smooth. At a certain stage of life, disagreements may arise between spouses, which will lead them to the decision to divorce. Having filed an application for divorce in court, after a while they begin to understand that they were hasty in making such a drastic decision regarding the current situation. They have a natural question about how to withdraw a divorce petition from the court, and in general, whether this can be done.
This material will examine the conditions under which it is possible to stop the divorce process, establish possible reasons accepted by the court as a basis for canceling divorce proceedings, determine the time frame within which it makes sense to apply for the cancellation of a filed claim, as well as the procedure in case of missing these deadlines.
Legislative framework for suspending the divorce process
The guarantor of the possibility of terminating a divorce case is Article 220 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation.
But, it should be clarified that it is not permitted by law to simply withdraw an application from the court for the termination of a marriage, which was officially filed by the plaintiff and registered in the court office. A statement of claim is a document on the basis of which a divorce case was initiated, and it cannot be removed from the case. However, it is possible to recognize it as annulled. Expert commentary
Kamensky Yuri
Lawyer
The legislation of the Russian Federation provides for conditions under which the cancellation of a declared divorce claim and termination of legal proceedings is possible. To cancel the proceedings carried out on the basis of a filed statement of claim, the applicant must take a number of actions and fulfill certain requirements established by law. And first of all, he must submit to the court a new statement of intentions to terminate the divorce process.
Motivations for withdrawing a divorce petition
In order to terminate a divorce case filed in court and cancel the stated claim, the applicant must convincingly formulate the reason for his decision.
The court may accept, for example, one of the following reasons:
- the spouses decided to save the marriage because it would be much easier to raise children in a two-parent family;
- Having thoroughly understood the conflict, the couple came to a compromise solution.
There may be other explanations for the desire of the spouses to end the divorce case. The main thing is that their motivation is serious and convincing for the judicial body considering the case. The Court is not inclined to interfere with the reconciliation of the parties, because reconciliation is part of its immediate task and for this purpose a postponement of the court hearing is given. But if the divorce claim stated the reason for the divorce, alcoholism or drug addiction of the spouse and his aggressive behavior in connection with this, then it will be difficult for the court to believe in the motivation for withdrawing the claim, based on the plaintiff’s desire to preserve the marriage in the interests of the children.
If the established procedure for canceling a divorce petition is followed, there should be no difficulties in terminating the case.
Is it possible to refuse divorce after a court decision has been made?
Some couples come to their senses too late and talk about their desire to save the family, or refuse to divorce their other half, after the court has made a final verdict. In this case, it is almost impossible to invalidate the divorce through the court. There is only one legal mechanism provided for by law - the ex-husband and wife need to prove that gross errors were made during the trial. There are very few similar precedents in Russian judicial practice - the procedure takes a lot of time and without convincing arguments, the court almost always refuses the plaintiff at the stage of filing an application.
It is much easier for a divorced man and woman to formalize their relationship again after reconciliation. The law of the Russian Federation allows only one option in which it is possible to restore marital relations after a divorce. The spouse has been declared missing or deceased by the court. The second party formalized the termination of the marriage relationship in the registry office unilaterally.
After several years, it suddenly turns out that the person is alive and well, but due to certain circumstances he could not make himself known - he was in captivity, was sick, lost his memory. Now he has returned and wants to once again become a full-fledged member of society and his family. In such situations, the law meets halfway and allows the marriage to be resumed. However, if by the time of his return the second spouse has created a new family and formalized the relationship, the question of whether the previous divorce can be refused becomes irrelevant.
Procedure and deadlines for canceling a stated claim
Cancellation of a claim for divorce is possible if a counter-application is filed to annul it and cancel the court proceedings to consider the divorce case. Based on this application, the court is obliged to terminate the consideration of the case, guided by Article 220 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation.
Expert commentary
Gorchakov Vladimir
Lawyer
An application for annulment of a divorce claim has the right to be filed by the spouse who filed the claim in court. If the spouses filed the application for divorce together, and both signed, then they must also document its cancellation together.
You must submit the application in person to the court office or you can send the document via registered mail with notification. Signatures must be notarized. No additional documents and re-payment of the fee, except for the application, will be required in court.
The withdrawal of the claim must be made within the time limits established by law; it must be carried out before the first court hearing, which is scheduled no earlier than a month after filing the claim. During the month before the court hearing to consider the divorce case, preparations for the process are carried out: studying the statement of claim and documents attached to it, requesting missing certificates, etc. This month is also given for possible reconciliation of the parties.
If the plaintiff did not have time to submit an application to the office within a month, he can express his desire to terminate the divorce process orally directly at the court hearing when the case is being considered. The plaintiff’s statement will be entered into the minutes of the court hearing, and it will take legal force. If the judge considers it necessary to postpone the hearing, and he has the right to extend the divorce process for up to three months, designed to reconcile the parties and clarify additional circumstances, then additional time will appear to withdraw the claim.
Important! If the plaintiff does not withdraw his demand for divorce before the court makes a decision, and the decision to end the marriage is made, it will be too late to file an application to withdraw the claim. Although there is still a small chance to return everything to normal, because... The law provides for a ten-day period for appealing the court decision.
How to cancel a divorce in the registry office?
A husband and wife can file for divorce through the registry office if they do not have common children and the decision to divorce was made mutually.
To cancel a divorce in the registry office, spouses must:
- Go to the registry office together and pick up the application.
- Failure to appear at the civil registry office on the appointed day. In this situation, failure to appear is regarded by the civil registry office staff as a reconciliation of the parties.
Note! The state fee for divorce in case of refusal to dissolve the marriage is not refundable.
Spouses have the right to a refund of the state fee only if they have not yet submitted an application to the registry office.
Pick up your application
To pick up a divorce application from the registry office, spouses must:
- Come to the department together on any day before the date set by the civil registry office specialist to register the divorce or on the appointed day.
- Inform the specialist of the Civil Registry Office about your decision to save the marriage.
- Pick up your application, passports and marriage certificate.
The cancellation procedure will take no more than 10 minutes.
The specialist will not interfere with the spouses’ decision to maintain the marriage. The documents will be returned without further questions.
Failure to appear for divorce registration
The law does not provide grounds for reinstating the missed deadline for divorce.
If the husband and wife do not come to the registry office on the day appointed for the divorce, the department specialist will leave the application without consideration. That is, if the spouses did not come, the marriage remains in force.
Contents of the statement
The plaintiff must formalize his desire to terminate the divorce case in the form of a statement drawn up on a form that can be obtained from the court office or downloaded.
The application must contain basic information important for ending the divorce case:
- the name of the court in which the divorce proceedings were initiated;
- plaintiff's details: full name and registration address;
- Defendant's details: Full name and his address;
- name of the document being drawn up: “application to cancel the claim”
- number of the divorce case filed in court;
- indication of the subject in question – “divorce”;
- link to the legislative framework;
- reason for withdrawing the claim.
At the end of the application, the court should be informed that the applicant is aware of the consequences following the cancellation of the claim. Next, complete the text with a personal signature and date. The more convincingly the reason for withdrawing the claim is formulated, the easier it can be to cancel it.
Appealing a divorce decree
If a court decision was nevertheless made during the hearing and it was recorded, it cannot be overturned so easily. The decision will come into effect after 30 days from the date of its adoption. You can use your last chance - to file an appeal to a higher authority. To do this, you need to correctly formulate the reasons for the appeal. For example, you can refer to the lack of proper notification of one of the parties to the process about its conduct, or the absence of one spouse due to illness.
An application to appeal a decision is usually submitted through the same court in which the divorce process took place and the court decision was made. There is little success in overturning the decision he made, especially if the application is signed by both spouses, and even better if an Agreement on Reconciliation of the Parties is attached to it.
Expert commentary
Kireev Maxim
Lawyer
If you miss the deadline for appealing, it is pointless to continue to fight to save the marriage. There is only one way out - to register the marriage again.
Legal issues
What to do if the appeal deadline is missed?
The law provides for the possibility of extending the period for appealing a court decision on divorce.
This can be done if the deadline is missed for a good reason. For example, the second spouse was sick or was on a long business trip. The period can also be extended if the defendant was not properly notified of the divorce.
As judicial practice shows, most often the courts restore the deadline for filing an appeal if the second spouse agrees to cancel the divorce.
How to cancel a divorce through State Services?
In 2021, the law does not provide for the possibility of canceling a divorce through State Services.
If the application for divorce was submitted using an electronic portal, you can cancel the divorce without appearing at the registry office on the appointed day. If the application was submitted through the GAS Justice portal, then the divorce can be canceled by filing a petition for reconciliation using the portal. But only the plaintiff can do this.
Is it possible to file for divorce again after the lawsuit is withdrawn?
The legislation provides for a procedure for re-applying to the court with a statement of claim if, after the withdrawal of the first application for divorce, a tense situation has arisen in the family that does not allow them to continue living together. In this scenario, it is impossible to simply duplicate the old claim, because in accordance with Article 221 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, it is not allowed to re-file the same claim. The new statement of claim must indicate other reasons for the divorce. The claim in the form in which it was previously filed will no longer be accepted.
For example, if, when filing the first statement of claim, the spouse indicated her husband’s infidelity as the reason, then after his withdrawal, this reason cannot be indicated in the repeated claim. If the motivation for reconciliation was justified by a change in family circumstances and a compromise found between the spouses in the conflict that arose, then in a new claim for divorce you can indicate the reason for the failure of one of the spouses to fulfill the agreements reached and the impossibility of saving the marriage.
From the established practice of divorce cases, a repeated claim filed in court is usually satisfied, and the couple is finally divorced.
