42-363. Waiting period.
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/ne/chapter-42/42-363A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
No suit for divorce shall be heard or tried until sixty days after perfection of service of process, at which time the suit may be heard or tried and a decree may be entered.
The waiting period for obtaining a divorce is a jurisdictional requirement. A divorce decree entered after expiration of the 60-day waiting period but based upon evidence adduced at a hearing held prior to expiration of the waiting period is null and void. Wymore v. Wymore, 239 Neb. 940, 479 N.W.2d 778 (1992).
If no attempt is made to have an appellate court review the decree within six months after it is entered, the decree becomes final. As such, it is res judicata as to the rights of the parties. Neither what the parties thought the judge meant nor what the judge thought he or she meant, after time for appeal has passed, is of any relevance. What the decree, as it became final, means as a matter of law as determined from the four corners of the decree is what is relevant. Neujahr v. Neujahr, 223 Neb. 722, 393 N.W.2d 47 (1986).