At the White Oak Law, we handle countless divorce cases on a regular basis. One of the questions that our 17clients often ask involves them wanting to move forward with a new marriage. Once a divorce has concluded, how long do individuals need to wait before they can remarry?

The answer to this is simple. Parties are free to remarry as soon as a divorce has been finalized. This is good news to those who are eager to start their new lives, but don’t forget to account for the divorce process itself!

The Six Month Waiting Period

In California, those who file for divorce need to go through a 6 month waiting period, also known as a “cooling off” period, before a marriage can be considered to have formally ended. This period starts on the date that the divorce paperwork is served to the non-filing individual.

Once the 6 month period has passed, either party can then request for the marriage to be legally recognized as terminated. Note that this process does not happen automatically, it needs to be requested by either party via a petition for a decree of dissolution. Once the decree of dissolution goes into effect, both parties are considered single and thus are automatically eligible to remarry.

To sum, the following two conditions need to be met before a person who was recently divorced is eligible to remarry in the state of California:

1. The six month waiting period must have expired.
2. A decree of resolution has been entered and legally-recognized by the courts.

Speak to a Trusted California Divorce Attorney

We hope that this blog post answered some of your questions involving divorce and getting re-married in California. If you want to learn more, or to schedule a initial consultation with a skilled divorce attorney, be sure to give us a call at the White Oak Law. Call us today to learn more about what we do.