N v N (Appeal: Setting Aside of Decree Nisi) [2026] EWHC 1593 (Fam)

Judgment date: 17 April 2026

https://caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ewhc/fam/2026/1593

Henke J. Appeal of a final divorce order granted on the basis of a procedural irregularity as the first instance judge had not seen an outstanding application to rescind the conditional order.

The parties had a purported customary wedding ceremony in 2000 in Nigeria and a subsequent 2009 ceremony, also in Nigeria. Prior proceedings had established that the 2009 ceremony resulted in a valid marriage. W’s appeal of that was certified as wholly without merit.

H then applied for divorce of the 2009 marriage. A conditional divorce order was granted in August 2025. W applied to have the conditional order rescinded or set aside, arguing once more that the 2009 marriage was void. However, the application was sent to the wrong court and the judge made a final divorce order in October 2025 without having seen the W’s application.

FPR 7.19(4) states that a conditional divorce order should only be made final if there is no pending application to rescind it or prevent it becoming final. Notwithstanding this, the court does have a discretion. As the judge had not had W’s application before her, the requirements of FPR 7.19(4) had not been met and there was a procedural irregularity. The case was remitted back to the judge to consider W’s application before considering final order.