My wife filed two divorce cases in two different counties. Can I get the second one canceled?

Full question:

My wife has filed two divorce cases against me, in two different counties in Pennsylvania. First one she’s filed in the county where we last lived and the second one in the county where she is now living with her parents. Can I get the second one canceled?

• Category: Divorce
• Date: 04/07/2025
• State: Pennsylvania

Answer:

You can have one of the cases cancelled, but which one depends on where you live now. This is because the court will look at where you both live now. If she moved over with her parents, and you moved out of the county too, then the place you last lived isn't the right court. But, if you still live in the county you lived in while married, then you can get the second one cancelled - that's the one where she lives now. Either way, you do this by requesting the court to stay the suit because it doesn't have jurisdiction and there's a suit in another court that does. Once you file that request, the court will put a stay on one of the cases and the other case will continue.

Pa. R.C.P. No. 1920.6 says:
 

“(a) If, within ninety days of service of the complaint, a second action is brought in another county and one of the two counties is the county in which the last family domicile was located and in which one of the parties continues to reside, the court of the county of the last family domicile shall determine, based upon the purposes of the Divorce Code, which of the two actions shall be stayed and which shall proceed. If neither action was brought in the county of the last family domicile and in which one of the parties continues to reside, the court in which the first action was brought shall make the determination.
    (b) If a second action is brought in another county more than ninety days after service of the complaint in the first action, the second action shall be stayed until the conclusion of the first action.”