A HAPPILY married Sheffield man was stunned to receive a letter from his solicitors – telling him his divorce from his wife of 36 years had been completed.
John Kitteridge's wife Joan opened the letter first – and the shock of seeing the words made her burst into tears.
Neither of the Kitteridges had filed for divorce and Joan, aged 59, said: "I couldn't believe what I was reading.
"I knew deep do
wn it couldn't be true but it was still such a shock.
"I was just going through the post and there it was. We've had our ups and downs like any couple! But we'd never get divorced."
Security guard John, aged 65, had been working nights and was in bed when the post arrived. He said: "If it had been an old lady or an elderly man who had received it they could have suffered a heart attack. How does a mistake like that even happen?
"We dealt with the same solicitors three years ago on an unrelated legal matter, but everything should be on computers these days so it must have shown up that we weren't getting a divorce."
John, a father and grandfather who lives in Harborough Avenue, Manor, said: "I know we've had our arguments but we'd never get divorced and seeing a letter like that really upset Joan."
The letter was sent by law firm Best Solicitors, in Paradise Square in the city centre.
John, who married Joan at the old Sheffield Register Office in the city centre before beginning married life in Woodthorpe, said: "We went in to see them and they said it was a mistake, a mix-up."
When contacted by The Star one staff member at Best Solicitors said the mistake had been made after a standard template letter was sent to the Kitteridges.
She said details inside the letter, referring to divorce, should have been changed but had been missed.
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