An accidental mistake by a London law firm led to the divorce of the wrong couple, and the mistake cannot be rectified.
It is reported that when the matter was brought before a senior judge recently, he refused to withdraw the decision.
He said that all efforts to correct this error are futile because public confidence in a true and final divorce decree is more important.
The case began when lawyers from a leading London law firm mistakenly selected them from a drop-down menu.
The couple were identified by the court as Mr and Mrs William. When the couple split in 2023, they had been married for 21 years.
While she was in the process of making financial arrangements for a final separation agreement, a law firm clerk accidentally tapped into an online portal for a final divorce decree, legally separating them in just 21 minutes.
Sir Andrew Macfarlane, president of the Family Division, said that strong public policy interests had to be respected in this case and that the validity of the divorce orders had been upheld in all cases.
A representative of the law firm says that the lawyer at the firm mistakenly selected a couple who were not ready for divorce through an online portal.
When the law firm realized the mistake, it applied to the Supreme Court for annulment, but it rejected the application.
