L.A. Mediator and Family Attorney Is Pleased that New Hampshire Would Not Allow a Couple to Undo Their Divorce

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 31, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Last week, the New Hampshire Supreme Court upheld a court ruling which refused to vacate a New Castle couple's 2014 divorce, which dissolved their marriage of 24 years.  

Terrie Harmon and her ex-husband, Thomas McCarron, essentially argued that the decree should be vacated because they agreed to un-divorce and didn't like that their "social security spousal rights, pension rights of inheritance, and other financial interests" were adversely impacted by the divorce.  However, in a unanimous ruling issued on Dec. 2, the Justices said the law specifically allows them to grant divorces — not undo them.

While a handful of states have laws which allow for divorces to be annulled or set aside by agreement of the parties, other states, including New Hampshire, have no such laws in place.  

According to prominent L.A. mediator and family law attorney, Mark Baer, former married couples should not be able to annul or set aside their divorces as if they never occurred, particularly if courts weren't given such authority.

"Considering there is no divorce revocation statute in New Hampshire, I seriously cannot believe that a couple who divorced and later reconciled took their case all the way up to the state's Supreme Court in an effort to get un-divorced. Marriages can be undone, but without legislation to the contrary, the same is not true of divorces. The couple should have considered that reality before divorcing. I also happen to believe that divorce revocation statutes make a mockery of both marriage and divorce. Every decision we make has consequences and there's something to be said for taking personal responsibility. That being said, they would, by no means, be the first divorced couple to remarry, even though it may not undo the consequences of their divorce. If they consider that option, hopefully they won't re-divorce," said Baer.

Attorney Kysa Crusco, head of the family law section of the New Hampshire Bar Association, said Harmon's argument was "creative" but that the law and prior New Hampshire rulings are clear.

To speak with Mark Baer, please contact Aurora DeRose at (301) 396-6090 or [email protected]

SOURCE Mark Baer

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