Have you ever wondered how to get married after divorce?
Around 50% of marriages end up in divorce. Yes, not a very happy statistic to put on a wedding celebrant page, but it is the reality.
Not every wedding is for couples who have never been married.
Around 20% of weddings I conduct are for couples who have been divorced, found a new partner (who is much better) and have decided to give it another go.
Contrary to popular belief you can start the marriage process even whilst waiting for the divorce to come through. We simply annotate the paperwork that the divorce is pending.
Once the divorce has come through, you simply show evidence of divorce to the celebrant. The evidence of divorce will vary depending on when you were divorced:
| When Divorce Granted | Required Evidence of Divorce |
| 5 January 1975 to 1 July 2002 | ‘decree absolute’ |
| 1 July 2002 to 13February2010 | divorce certificate |
| 13 February 2010 to current | ‘divorce order’ |
If you wish to get re-married and do not have a copy of your divorce paperwork, then you will need to apply to the Family Court for a copy. Or if you you are friendly with your former spouse, you can ask them for a copy.
Similarly if you have lost your divorce documentation and you were divorced in Australia, you will need to request a new one from the court that issued it in the first instance.
If you were divorced overseas, you must provide your authorised celebrant with divorce documentation from the country where the divorce was granted.
An annulment granted by a church is not a divorce. So you must go through the divorce process before being able to re-marry.
If you have any questions about the above, please contact me.