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Most people assume the divorce is "done" when the court grants the final order. In law, though, dissolving the marriage and settling the finances are two separate processes. If you remarry before you have secured a court-approved financial settlement, or at least issued a financial application, you may unwittingly shut the door on important claims that could otherwise have provided long-term security. This is what lawyers refer to as the "remarriage trap."
In practical terms, it means your second wedding can inadvertently strip away rights you still had against your first spouse.
Divorce and finances
It often surprises clients that divorce does not automatically sort out money. A final order ends the marriage, but it leaves financial claims wide open until the court either makes a formal order or one party remarries. That separation is deliberate – Parliament wanted to make sure financial issues were considered on their own merits, rather than rushed through as part of dissolving the marriage itself.
This separation has consequences. If you remarry without having dealt with finances from your first marriage, the law takes away the court's power to make certain kinds of orders. Under s.28(3) of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, once a party has remarried, the court no longer has jurisdiction to entertain new claims for lump sums, property adjustment orders or spousal maintenance. The policy behind this is that once you are married again, your financial obligations and entitlements should focus on your new spouse, not your old one. But while the logic is tidy on paper, the effect can be devastating for individuals who were relying on a financial claim to achieve fairness.
What survives, and what does not
The statutory bar in s.28(3) is strict, but it is not total. One significant exception is pensions. When pension sharing was introduced, it was deliberately left outside the "remarriage trap." That means a person who has remarried may still apply for a pension sharing order arising from the first marriage. For some, this remains the only route to secure future financial stability.
Child maintenance is also unaffected by remarriage. Support for children is a continuing obligation that flows from parenthood, not from marriage, and the Child Maintenance Service will calculate obligations on that basis. Where things become muddier is with property and spousal claims. These are extinguished once you remarry unless you have already made an application to the court or obtained a sealed consent order. Timing, in short, is everything.
It is also important to be clear about who is caught. The remarriage trap only applies to the spouse who remarries. If your former partner remarries but you do not, your ability to bring financial claims against them remains intact. The law's logic is that it is the act of entering into a new marriage that shuts down your own rights to seek financial provision from an earlier one; it does not wipe away the other party's obligations simply because they have married again.
A cautionary tale
The risks are not theoretical. In E v E [2008], the parties reached agreement on a lump sum after their divorce. The husband, confident they had "sorted" matters, remarried before the consent order had been lodged with the court. When they did try to file it, the court refused – it had lost jurisdiction once he remarried. The financial settlement simply could not be made binding. What looked like a technicality cost one party a substantial award and left both exposed to continuing uncertainty.
Cases like E v E are a stark reminder that informal agreements, however amicable, are no substitute for a formal order lodged in time. Without that order, even the best-intentioned arrangements can collapse.
The wider financial landscape
The repercussions of remarriage extend beyond the family court. Under the Wills Act, a new marriage will usually revoke any existing will unless it was expressly made in contemplation of that marriage. Many people therefore stumble, unknowingly, into intestacy. In that situation the new spouse inherits the bulk of the estate, potentially displacing children from a first family or others whom the deceased intended to benefit. Remarriage therefore needs to be considered alongside estate planning, not as an isolated step.
The same is true of maintenance. Clients often confuse child maintenance with spousal maintenance. The former is unaffected by remarriage; the latter ends automatically when the receiving spouse remarries. Unless properly planned for, this can leave someone suddenly without support they were relying on.
Avoiding the trap
The law offers two clear safeguards. The first, and safest, is to negotiate and file a consent order before you remarry. Once sealed by the court, that order closes off the financial claims between you and your former spouse and protects both sides.
The second is to issue a financial application before the wedding. Doing so preserves the court's jurisdiction, even if the eventual settlement is reached later. This can be vital where negotiations are ongoing but a remarriage is imminent. What will not suffice is an informal understanding, or a private agreement outside court. Unless it is embodied in a consent order or protected by a live application, the law will treat it as unenforceable once you remarry.
For those who have already remarried without securing an order, options are more limited. Pension sharing remains available, and in some cases trust-based property claims or applications for provision for children may be possible. But these are narrower, more complex, and far less certain than the full suite of financial remedies. The message is clear – it is far better to address finances before you embark on a new marriage than to try to salvage them afterwards.
A Buckles perspective
At Buckles, we encourage clients to view remarriage as a new beginning that deserves careful legal preparation. That preparation is not about dampening the excitement of a wedding; it is about ensuring that a past relationship does not cast a long shadow over your financial future. By securing a consent order or issuing a financial application in time, you can move forward with confidence. Reviewing your Will, and considering the competing interests of a new spouse and children from a first relationship, should be part of the same conversation.
Remarriage is a moment of optimism and renewal. But it should not be approached without legal closure on the past. With the right advice, the so-called remarriage trap is entirely avoidable. What it requires is foresight, and a willingness to tie up loose ends before you step into a new chapter of your life.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
