Remarriage After Divorce and How It Affects Outstanding Financial Claims

For many people, divorce is not the end of the financial story. What happens after a settlement has been reached, and in particular how remarriage affects any outstanding financial claims, is something that is often not fully understood until it becomes directly relevant.

What outstanding financial claims are

When a divorce is finalised, financial claims between the parties do not automatically end unless a financial order has been made and has included a clean break provision. Without such an order, each party technically retains the right to make financial claims against the other, which can continue for many years.

This is the case even where an informal agreement has been reached. Without a consent order approved by the court, that agreement has no legal force and the right to make financial claims continues to exist in the background.

How your own remarriage affects your position

If you remarry before a financial remedy application has been made, you lose the right to apply for certain financial orders against your former spouse. Specifically, remarriage bars you from applying for a property adjustment order or a lump sum order in respect of the earlier marriage.

This is one of the most significant legal consequences of remarriage and one that many people are not aware of until it is too late. If you are planning to remarry and have not yet resolved financial matters with your former spouse, taking advice before doing so is essential.

Our family law barristers can advise on how remarriage affects your particular position.

How your former spouse's remarriage affects your position

If your former spouse remarries, this does not affect your right to make financial claims against them. Their remarriage extinguishes their right to claim against you in certain respects, but it does not extinguish your right to make a claim against them.

However, the remarriage of a former spouse may affect the substance of what you can claim, particularly in relation to maintenance. Spousal maintenance is typically brought to an end, or varied, where the recipient remarries. And the financial position of a new partner may affect the overall assessment of needs and resources.

Maintenance payments and remarriage

If you are receiving spousal maintenance from a former spouse, your own remarriage will automatically bring those payments to an end. This cannot be varied by agreement. Remarriage terminates the right to receive ongoing spousal maintenance.

If you are paying maintenance to a former spouse, their remarriage gives you grounds to apply to the court to vary or discharge the maintenance order. Their new partner's income and resources will be relevant to whether maintenance continues and at what level.

Children's financial provision is unaffected

It is important to note that financial obligations relating to children are separate from the financial claims between spouses. Child maintenance obligations and any financial provision orders for children are not affected by remarriage of either parent. Those obligations continue according to their own terms.

Acting before remarriage protects your position

The clearest message from all of this is that if there are unresolved financial matters from a previous marriage, they should be addressed before either party remarries. Doing so preserves all available options and prevents the loss of rights that can occur through remarriage without a settlement in place.

You can read more about the financial remedy process in our guide to using a direct access barrister for divorce.

To find out how a direct access barrister can help you move forward, contact us here.