| Is it legal to get engaged before your divorce is final?
Of course, because being engaged has no legal significance or consequence. However, your
engagement to someone else may affect the divorce outcome, despite the fact that it has no
legal significance. Getting divorced is perhaps the
most emotionally traumatic experience people go through in their lives. Divorce is often
compared to suffering through the death of a loved one. Hence, any factor that worsens a
divorcing person's emotional state can affect the time, stress, and cost involved in
finalizing a divorce.
If you believe that your estranged spouse would be upset
knowing that you have fallen in love with someone else and that you are engaged to this
person, then it is possible that your divorce will not proceed as quickly, easily, and
cheaply as it could have if you did not disclose this information.
If you have children with your estranged spouse, the news
of your engagement may contribute to increased resistance in your estranged spouse to
resolving custody and visitation issues. Moreover, your children may suffer increased
negative psychological consequences as a result of the heightened friction between you and
your estranged spouse.
To add to the increased cost of your divorce resulting from
your estranged spouse's reaction to your pending marriage, you may also have financial
consequences resulting from your current choices regarding your new significant other. For
example, have you established joint bank accounts with this person? Have you spent money
on this person that was earned before you separated from your spouse? Are you living with
your significant other in the same residence in which you and your spouse used to reside?
Is your significant other supporting you in any way? If you answered "Yes" to
any of these questions, there may be a negative financial impact on how much you receive
in the division of the community estate (i.e. the marital property you and your spouse
have to divide) as well as the spousal support you may be entitled to receive.
Finally, people going through a divorce often find new
significant others before the divorce is final for the wrong reasons. Before marrying
someone new before the ink on your divorce judgment is even dry, I would recommend you
work with a mental-health professional to make sure you're making the right decision. |
