Case No. T 1815-13 – L-G.J v. E.J.

According to Chapter 5 Section 4 of the Swedish Marital Law, if only one of the spouses wishes to divorce, that spouse has the right to divorce only after a time for consideration. As an exception, spouses who have lived separately for at least two years have the right to divorce without prior time for consideration. In this case, the wife, E.J., wanted to divorce her husband, L-G.J., against his will. The spouses had only been married for one year, during which they lived separately. The question in the Supreme Court was whether time prior to the marriage can be included in the calculation of how long the spouses have lived separately, or if only time during which the spouses have been married can affect the time for consideration. The Supreme Court affirmed the lower court’s judgement. The lower court had ruled that what is crucial is that they had in fact lived separately for at least two years. Thus, E.J. was allowed to divorce her husband, L-G.J., without time for consideration.