Marriage Counseling During Divorce Proceedings

What Happens When a Husband and Wife Do Not Agree to a Divorce

What happens when a husband or wife files for divorce or dissolution of marriage and the other spouse does not want a divorce? Florida law provides that no judgment of dissolution of marriage or divorce shall be granted unless the marriage is irretrievably broken or one of the parties is mentally incapacitated.
However, Florida law also provides that when there is a minor child of the marriage, or when the responding party denies that the marriage is irretrievably broken, the court may order marriage counseling or continue the proceeding for a period to enable the parties to effect a reconciliation.
I recently presented a talk on this issue at the Central Florida Family Law American Inn of Court meeting and questioned the approximately 50 lawyers in attendance as to whether any of them had ever requested marriage counseling on behalf of their client. I received an affirmative response from 1 attorney in attendance. I have been practicing family law or divorce law going on 18 years, and I have made 1 request for marriage counseling in that time, which request was ultimately dropped.
Nonetheless, if you find yourself on the receiving end of a divorce petition and you do not believe that the marriage is over, you should be aware that the judge or court does have the authority to order marriage counseling, even after the divorce petition is filed.
In a fairly recent Florida appeals court case (Groeger v. Groeger, 2004) which originated in the Ninth Judicial Circuit (Orlando and Kissimmee), the Wife appealed a divorce judgment. The Wife claimed that the trial court should have ordered the parties to attend further marital counseling before entering a final divorce judgment.
The appeals court found that a motion for marriage counseling is directed to the sound discretion of a trial court. A refusal to order marital counseling is not abuse of discretion simply because one party contests whether a marriage is irretrievably broken. If the evidence demonstrates a marriage is broken beyond repair in one party’s firm view, a trial judge must dissolve the marriage. Although it is commendable to try to effectuate a reconciliation, but like ballroom dancing, it takes two.
I certainly have represented many husband or wives who have reconciled after the filing of a divorce petition, but forced counseling is rarely a viable option especially when one party is of the firm view that the marriage is irretrievably broken.