A dozen uncontested divorces were granted at the Dublin Circuit Family Court on Thursday, including to one couple who split after two years of marriage and another who had been married almost 30 years. The majority of couples were not legally represented.
One young couple were married in 2010 and separated in 2012. The husband entered the witness box to give evidence about the marriage. His initial nerves were transformed when Judge Elma Sheahan asked how their young child was doing. “Great,” he said, with a broad smile.
He told the judge he had the child two nights a week and it worked well for all involved. The couple had agreed a settlement through mediation, and the wife remained in the family home with a new partner, while the husband paid €200 a month maintenance, and rented his accommodation with his new partner. Childcare bills were divided.
Granting the divorce, the judge congratulated the couple on their “co-parenting success”.
Married 30 years
An older couple, who had been married for almost 30 years before separating in 2011, also had a mediated agreement. They had two grown-up children and the family home had been sold and the proceeds split 50/50. They both now had their own, mortgage-free homes, the court was told. The judge made adjustment orders, to take account of the husband’s five pensions. When the short case was completed, the now ex-husband stood back at the door, to allow his ex-wife to leave before him.
Another couple, whose marriage lasted three years before they separated in 2008, were also divorced on Thursday. The wife gave evidence that they had no assets in common and no children. Asked by the judge if there was any possibility of reconciliation, they looked at each other and laughed. Before leaving the court, they congratulated each other and shook hands.
A divorce was not granted, however, to a woman who attended court alone and said she was separated from her husband, but still living with him.
She told the judge her husband had signed the papers and said he would appear in court, but failed to show up. They were married in 2005 and separated in 2010, she said. “We still live together, but we don’t eat together, we don’t sleep together,” she told the court.
Children by another man
She said her husband had his own room. Asked how the marriage had broken down, the woman said she had wanted children, but her husband had said no. So she had a child by someone else and now had four children, none of whom were fathered by her husband. She also said she was unemployed and receiving social welfare, which included a payment for her husband. “We are still living together because he cannot get a house,” she said.
The judge queried why they were getting a joint social welfare payment if they were separated. She said she had to be satisfied they were separated for four out of the last five years and she would need the husband to give evidence. She adjourned the case to February.
The judge struck out another application for divorce after hearing the husband in the case had died by suicide. The woman “had her own problems”, her counsel said. There had previously been concerns for the welfare of their teenage children, the court heard, and a report had been ordered to examine their position. Since the death, the Child and Family Agency had obtained a Supervision Order at the District Court. Counsel said he wanted to assure the court there was a framework in place now. “This is not going to fall through the gaps,” he said.
