The remarriage trap

One of the unfortunate consequences of the pandemic is that a large number of people have been forced to delay their marriage. Clearly there is some disappointment about this but for those who have been married before, this may in fact be a blessing in disguise.

It is a common misconception that when you go through divorce, the courts will automatically deal with your finances but that is not true. It is in fact possible to get divorced without the court ever making any orders or even being aware of the financial circumstances. In order to bring finality to any financial claims between you and your ex-spouse, one of you must make a separate application to the court. If you originally applied for the divorce, then this can be as simple as ticking the correct boxes in your application for divorce. You would therefore be ill-advised to delay this because your ex-spouse could make a claim at any time even after the marriage is legally dissolved which can leave your assets exposed.

You might be wondering what this has to do with your remarriage and therein lies the trap. If you are one of the handful of people that have gone through a divorce without dealing with the finances, then you will be barred from making any such application once you remarry. As a result, you might be losing the right to claim your fair share of the assets from your previous marriage.

If you have previously been married and your marriage has sadly been put on hold because of the pandemic or for any other reason, it is a good time to consider whether you and your ex-spouse tied up all the loose ends relating to financial and property matters to avoid the remarriage trap!

If you need advice or further information about your divorce, contact family solicitor, Sahil Aggarwal on 020 8332 8675 or by email at sahil.aggarwal@moorebarlow.com