When Can I Remarry?
As soon as you have received your Decree Absolute that confirms your divorce, you are allowed to remarry immediately. Under the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020, there is no time frame that you are required to wait before remarrying.
For example, you can remarry the same day as your divorce from a previous marriage is finalised.
Although, we suggest making sure that your divorce has been finalised before attempting to marry again. It’s against the law to marry someone if your previous marriage hasn’t yet been legally declared as over.
Planning for the Future
Resolve Outstanding Issues
If there are any loose ends from your previous marriage, we advise resolving these now rather than in the future. Depending on the issue, remarrying may even prevent you from resolving certain issues.
Most separated couples decide on their financial and child arrangements but then one of them remarrying can cause conflict that leads to the other person challenging those agreements.
In some circumstances, your ex-partner may be able to apply to the Court to gain information about your new partner’s financial status, if they believe it has altered your household income. Your new partner may not appreciate their financial status being disclosed.
It’s important to seek legal advice before you remarry. Here at Simpson Millar, we’ll look at your unique situation and offer advice prior to your marriage to make sure that your previous divorce doesn’t impact it negatively.
Prenups and Postnups
While it can be considered unromantic to enter into a Prenuptial or Postnuptial Agreement, it's important to consider how marriage will change your legal status and what you can do to plan for the future.
It’s natural not to think about planning for the breakdown of your marriage when you are planning a wedding and about to embark on a new adventure with your partner, but having a plan in place can give you peace of mind, especially where children are involved.
If you’ve left an earlier relationship with a divorce settlement designed to give you and your children financial security, it’s important that you know it will not be lost in the future. A pre or postnuptial agreement can help to do that.
Prenup Agreement
If you want a prenup, the agreement must be made before you enter a marriage. This is often easier because dividing assets can usually become mingled together once a couple gets married, after which it can be difficult to separate them.
When you’re writing a prenup, you will set out your individual assets as it stands at the time of your engagement. It will outline how your assets will be divided in the event of a divorce, which will include your money, property, and any investments you may have.
Postnup Agreement
As the name suggests, a postnup agreement is a legal contract that is done after a marriage has started. Other than that, a postnup is the same agreement as a prenup. Both parties will sign the contract, agreeing with the way that their individual assets have been divided.
Of course, an agreement might not be right or necessary for everyone, but it's worth looking at whether it could be right for you. It’s worth noting that prenup and postnups are not legally enforceable in the UK. While they do provide a strong foundation for how to negotiate during the settlement after a divorce, it can only be considered by the Court to use it as evidence if there’s a dispute.
Updating Your Will
Inheritance is another issue to consider when looking at remarriage. Marriage changes who can, and will, inherit as a matter of law. If you want to make sure your existing family are protected, be it children or other family members, it can be important to have a valid Will made that means your Estate won’t just be divided by the Rules of Intestacy because of your new marriage.
It's important to note that if you do remarry, then you should update your Will. This is because your existing Will is revoked once you enter a new marriage, and it won’t be taken into consideration in the event of your death.
Blending Your Families
Gwen has three sons from her first marriage, but Blake doesn’t have any of his own children. Gwen and Blake have formed a new family unit and Blake has taken on the role of stepfather. It’s reported that Blake said during a radio appearance, “There’s definitely nothing easy about it. I don’t know if it’s as hard, or harder or not as hard as being an actual biological parent.”
Becoming a stepparent can be a difficult transition, whether or not you have children of your own. And this can create some challenging dynamics and bring up issues that need to be worked through as everyone gets used to the new situation.
Our team of family law solicitors often work with parents and stepparents to help with issues such as:
- Difficulties managing child arrangements with ex-partners
- Co-parenting
- Dealing with who has parental responsibility
- And sometimes stepparent adoption
Some couples who are marrying later in life or following earlier marriages also want to look at ways to build their family together, whether through having children of their own, adoption, or surrogacy.
Blending family units can be the foundation for many years of joy and fulfilment, but there is never any harm in researching and preparing for any possible bumps in the road. As well as legal advice, there are lots of useful resources online, especially for stepfamilies.
How Remarrying May Affect Benefits
If you receive Universal Credit, Housing Benefit, Council Tax Support, or Pension Credit, these may be affected if you remarry, along with any other means tested benefits.
When you remarry, you should contact the office that is responsible for paying your benefits, as soon as possible.
Benefits that are means tested will include your new partners income as part of your assessment. Depending on your new household income, your benefits may increase or decrease. You may lose some of your benefits altogether.
State Pension
Under the new State Pension, you usually can’t use your ex-partner’s National Insurance record. But if you reached State Pension age before 6th April 2016, you would continue to be paid the State Pension under the old system.
What are the Intestacy Laws?
Under Intestacy Laws, if someone passes away and is married at the time, the surviving partner will receive the first initial £322,000 of the estate. The rest of the estate is then divided equally between the partner and the children of who passed away.
If any children are below the age of 18, then their shares will be put into a trust until their 18th birthday.
If the person passes away and doesn’t have any surviving children, their entire estate will then be given to their surviving partner.
The Intestacy Laws are very inflexible, and they simply don’t reflect modern life. For this reason, if you do intend to remarry, you must seek legal advice to make sure that your partner and any children from a previous marriage will be looked after.