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If you have filed for divorce and you are now having second thoughts, you may want to better understand the process of undoing your divorce filing. There are a variety of reasons why you may change your mind. The question remains, however, whether or not you can stop your divorce in the middle of the process. Here is what you need to know.

Your Options

The primary consideration is why you want to halt your divorce proceedings. If, for some reason, you want to stop your divorce just so you can alter the terms, you will not have much success. After you have signed the divorce paperwork and it goes to the judge, your primary recourse is to appeal any terms you want to change.

If you have both decided to truly stay married but have already filed for divorce, you may have some success in halting the process. Your options largely depend on the timing of your decision. If you wait until the very end of the divorce process to change your mind, chances are the divorce is too far along to stop. Your recourse would be to get married again with a new marriage license.

If your divorce is not final, you do have the option to cancel your divorce through some specific steps based on where you are in the process.

Stopping Your Divorce

If you are at the start of the divorce process, you should be able to stop the divorce through a withdrawal of your divorce petition that you initially filed in court. You simply return to the courthouse and make a request for your petition to be returned to you. This can only happen if the clerk has not filed your divorce petition yet.

When you wait until much of the divorce is complete but not yet finalized, you could ask the judge for a voluntary dismissal. You have to tell the judge why you want to dismiss your divorce case and provide any requested information. If you have waited to change your mind about your marriage and the judge has not yet signed off on your divorce, you may be able to file a motion to cease the settlement of your case, which suspends the divorce.

If none of these steps work, your only option is to make a request to the court to rescind your case. The judge will have the final say on whether or not he or she will do this for you.

If you have questions about whether stopping a divorce is right for you, a divorce attorney might be able to help.