Dudley woman receives court order allowing her to remarry

Josie Fox received a special order hours before a notice of marriage appointment

A bride-to-be has received a court order allowing her to remarry after a missing document threatened to derail her wedding.

Josie Fox, 54, has been divorced for 21 years but decided to tie the knot again when she met future husband Simon.

However Ms Fox, from Dudley, could not find her decree absolute proving her first marriage was over, which had since been archived by the courts.

With hours to spare, she was able to get a special order from a judge.

Unless Ms Fox was able to present the document ahead of a notice of marriage appointment on Wednesday, she would have had to call off her big day at a country house near Wolverhampton on 2 September.

"I didn't want to put it off again," she said, after coronavirus knocked back the first date in June and amid concerns for the health of her 88-year-old dad, who is due to walk her down the aisle.

Initially Ms Fox was unaware she needed the decree absolute to remarry, although it is recommended couples make sure they have the document before they book their wedding.

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She searched her home and her ex-husband searched too but neither were able to track it down, so Ms Fox applied to Aldershot County Court for a copy.

"They told me they couldn't retrieve the file because it's in archives in the middle of 400 boxes and there's nothing they can do," she said.

In desperation, Ms Fox reached out to BBC Radio 4's You and Yours for help, who contacted the Ministry of Justice.

Through their intervention, the court was able to write an order that Ms Fox was divorced and was free to marry, for the first time in its history.

When she heard the news, "I cried, I shouted and I ran round my kitchen," Ms Fox said.

"I'm now able to just breathe and carry on with my planning and not worry," she said.