Legal Planning for Second Marriages

A second marriage can significantly impact the financial situation of a couple getting married. Each partner should consider how their assets will change as a result of the marriage and how their assets will be divided once they pass away.

How Do I Legally Recognize My Second Marriage?

People getting married for the second time must ensure their first marriage was legally divorced or canceled. There may only be one marriage at a time for any individual (religious exemptions aside). A court will declare the second marriage null and void if the original marriage is not properly dissolved.

If you’re getting married again, it can be a good idea to look up your prior marriage’s divorce decree in court records. Your future spouse should make similar checks to ensure that bigamy won’t prevent you from getting married again.

What Am I Entitled To?

During the marriage and after the first spouse’s passing, each spouse in a union acquires certain legal rights to the other’s possessions. These rights consist of:

• The right to financial assistance throughout the period of asset administration
• If there is no will, the right to receive a portion of the deceased spouse’s assets.
• The authority to manage the decedent’s inheritance in the absence of a will

How Should I Divide Up My Resources?

There are several ways for spouses to guarantee that their assets are allocated according to their preferences. These may consist of:

• Prenuptial or marriage contracts
• Joint tenancy
• Trusts and wills
• Prenuptial Contracts

Prenuptial agreements can assist in protecting money originally set aside for retirement or for the children’s education before marriage. Prenuptial agreements typically provide that neither spouse will have a claim on the other spouse’s assets in the event of the other spouse’s death or divorce.

Joint Ownership

Couples who possess property jointly may designate the other as their beneficiary. All of the decedent’s assets may be transferred to the surviving spouse under survivorship rights upon the first spouse’s death. Those assets will thereafter be distributed in accordance with the surviving spouse’s will or living trust at the time of the surviving spouse’s demise.

Trusts and Wills

You can also ensure that your assets are dispersed according to your preferences by reviewing and updating current wills and trusts or by establishing new ones. A spouse’s prior will usually precede marriage unless the marriage was foreseen at the time of its forming.

If a spouse doesn’t update their will, it will be as if they pass away without one, and the surviving spouse will be entitled to share in the decedent’s probate inheritance.

What Takes Place With Alimony Following Remarriage?

After a divorce, a person may be required by a court to pay their ex-spouse alimony, which is financial assistance. Most alimony rulings stipulate that payments stop upon remarriage.

Remarrying is one of the situations where your ex-spouse may ask the court to terminate an alimony award if the order does not contain such a clause. Unless otherwise specified in the divorce decree, alimony ends upon the recipient’s remarriage or death.

Furthermore, alimony is terminated if the recipient cohabitates with someone else after the alimony order has been made, but the other spouse cannot stop paying alimony. The cohabitation must first be established in court. Having a romantic or sexual connection while living together in the same home on a regular basis is referred to as cohabiting.

No later than one year after the date on which the party knew or should have known that the former spouse had begun living with someone else, a motion to terminate alimony for cohabitation must be submitted. Remember that the party asking the court to discontinue alimony does not have to show that the former partner was living together when they filed their motion.

After Remarriage, What Happens to Child Support?

Even though the kids aren’t in their possession physically, parents are still required by law to provide for them financially. A parent’s second marriage frequently has financial repercussions. For instance, the child support order for a kid from a prior marriage could be changed if the single, noncustodial father remarries and has a new child.

Depending on the parental income, which might include wages, tips, commissions, pension income, trust income, and social security benefits, child support is frequently determined using a formula. Even while a parent’s responsibility to pay child support does not change automatically when their lifestyle or income changes, any parent may ask the court to change the child support order if there has been a significant change in circumstances, such as remarriage. Courts typically cannot designate a new spouse’s income as the parent paying child support since it is not regarded as “actual income” when determining a child support order.

On a petition to amend the child support order, the judge will consider this if a new spouse is covering all of the parent’s expenses. As a result of the parent’s increased disposable income, child support payments may be increased. When petitioning the court for a modification, an expert child support attorney may subpoena financial documents to ascertain who is covering a spouse’s expenses.

Due to a parent’s remarriage and the birth of more children, courts are reluctant to lower child support obligations. Courts are unlikely to change the award if the parent can show that their overall household expenses have grown.

It is crucial to make a modification request as soon as the circumstances of the paying spouse change if you are paying or receiving child support. Remember that child support obligations cannot be changed in the past.

If you are paying child support and your spouse remarries someone who earns a good living, you should keep making your payments on schedule and get advice from an experienced child support attorney if necessary. The states have the right to take action when people don’t make their child support payments on time or fall behind, including wage garnishment, passport revocation, withholding your tax refund or unemployment benefits, and jail time for more serious offenses.

Remarrying may nevertheless have an effect even while it does not end a parent’s duty to pay child support. For example, suppose a paying parent remarries a wealthy spouse. In that case, it’s likely that the new spouse’s ability to pay more support due to their increased income will result in the paying parent’s child support obligation increasing.

However, suppose the parent with primary custody remarries and the noncustodial parent’s income rises. In that case, the latter cannot ask the paying parent for more money since their financial circumstances have improved as a result of the remarriage. If there has been a material change in circumstances, either parent may submit a request to adjust child support.

Suppose the current order is at least three years old. In that case, a parent is unable to provide health insurance for the child, or there has been another significant change in circumstances, such as being fired or suffering a serious accident, state courts frequently allow modification.

Do I Need Legal Advice Before Remarrying?

It can be challenging to understand your legal obligations if you remarry. You can get assistance from an accomplished family lawyer in determining your property’s legal classification.

Additionally, a lawyer can represent you in court and assist you in defending your property rights.