Mary-Kate Olsen loses bid to file for an emergency divorce as judge determines it's 'not an essential matter'

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Mary-Kate Olsen's request to file for an emergency divorce from husband Olivier Sarkozy was denied by New York City Judge Michael Katz on Thursday, Fox News has confirmed.

“Currently, we are only accepting essential, emergency matters for filing,” a spokesperson for the New York courts said in a statement to Fox News on Thursday. “The original filing was rejected by the New York County clerk because they did not follow the essential matter procedure.”

“They refiled under the essential matter procedure and the matter was referred to the ex-parte judge, a New York State Supreme Court judge,” the note continued. “He determined that it is not an essential matter, so they can’t file anything at this point.”

Mary-Kate Olsen, left, and Olivier Sarkozy attend the launch of Just One Eye's Ulysses Tier 1: The Ultimate Disaster Relief Kit on December 5, 2014, in Los Angeles, Calif.  (Donato Sardella/Getty Images for Just One Eye)

On Wednesday, TMZ reported the 33-year-old twin sister of Ashley Olsen signed a petition to divorce Sarkozy, 50, back on April 17.

However, the former child actress-turned-fashion-designer was met with a setback, since New York courts are not currently accepting new divorce filings due to the coronavirus pandemic unless they are cases of emergency.

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According to the outlet, which obtained the original filing, Mary-Kate Olsen was looking to speed up the process with an emergency order because Sarkozy allegedly terminated the lease of their New York City apartment, and his lawyers have also reportedly emailed Mary-Kate Olsen notifying her that she needs to move out by May 18.

Page Six reported on Thursday that Mary-Kate Olsen stated in her filing: "I am petrified that my husband is trying to deprive me of the home we have lived in and if he is successful, I will not only lose my home but I risk losing my personal property, as well.”

Mary-Kate Olsen and Olivier Sarkozy -- half-brother of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy -- married in 2014. (Getty)

Some legal experts believed Mary-Kate Olsen’s request would have been denied by the courts for the same reasons officially stated by the legal system on Thursday. However, Los Angeles-based certified family law specialist Steven Mindel said he still understands why Mary-Kate Olsen would make such a request for an emergency divorce.

"I think what she just basically wants is, she just wants to get a court filing, so she gets the initial orders that stop her husband from kicking her out of her apartment,” Mindel, a partner at FMBK and not involved with the case, told Fox News on Thursday.

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“Because if you're Mary-Kate's husband, he is saying, 'If I don't get her out of the apartment now, I may not be able to get her out until January or February because the courts are so backed up. So he is exercising self-help. 'I am sending you a letter. I am not paying your rent. I'm going to tell the front desk that you're no longer a tenant here. And I will have the locks on the doors changed.' That's self-help.”

While Mindel noted that typically the courts aim to mitigate as much “self-help” as possible between divorcing parties due to the fact that "usually when you have self-help, the next step is you have domestic violence," he said that, in Mary-Kate Olsen’s case, the judge likely didn’t find any correlation or reason to believe her to be in danger – and thus she likely didn’t garner any “sympathy from the court.”

Actresses Ashley Olsen (L) and Mary-Kate Olsen arrive for a Museum of Modern Art tribute to director Tim Burton in New York November 17, 2009.  (REUTERS/Lucas Jackson)

"He is trying to exercise self-help to avoid her just kind of parking herself there because the courts aren't effective," Mindel said of Sarkozy. "And then she, on the other hand, is saying to the courts, don't let him exercise self-help. I have rights, much like many tenants are doing all across the country. They're not paying their rent because they are unemployed and the courts are not evicting them. So she wants to kind of fall in that category of people that are unemployed who can't pay their rent."

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A rep for Mary-Kate Olsen declined to comment.