Family Law

Every now and then, I receive a call or email from someone who tells me that he/she and their ex have reconciled and want to be married again. In Oklahoma, there are three ways for a divorced couple to become remarried.

1.  The couple may remarry by obtaining a marriage license and having a civil wedding ceremony.
2.  The couple may remarry by common law.
3.  The couple may have their divorce decree set aside or vacated.

There are major differences between remarriage and vacating the divorce decree.

Remarriage, whether by civil ceremony or common law, constitutes a new marriage relationship. The parties will have a new anniversary date and new time calculations regarding their time married to one another. Each person brings into the new marriage as their own separate property the assets that were divided as such in their divorce.

On the other hand, vacating the divorce decree essentially annuls the divorce and returns the parties to their exact marital positions pre-divorce. Their anniversary date remains the same and their rights accrued under their previous marriage are restored.

The requirements for vacating a divorce decree are found at Tit. 43 O.S. 133. The couple must file a Petition signed by each party requesting that their divorce decree be set aside. The Petition must be filed in the county where the divorce decree was granted. Both parties will need to attend a short hearing before a judge and provide testimony including proof that neither has remarried a third party since the divorce decree was issued.

There is no time limit for when a Petition to Vacate must be filed. It can be filed the day following the effective date of the divorce decree or fifty years later. However, if either party has remarried a third party, the the divorce decree cannot be vacated.