How Many Times Can You Get Married in the US: Laws and Waiting Periods

There is no federal or state law that caps how many times you can get married in the United States. You can marry, divorce, and remarry as often as you like over a lifetime. The one firm rule is that you can be married to only one person at a time, so every previous marriage has to legally end before the next ceremony takes place.¹ Marrying someone while still legally married to another person is bigamy, and it is a crime in all 50 states.²

The U.S. also does not recognize polygamous marriages, even ones performed legally in another country.¹ So the practical question isn’t how many marriages the law allows. It’s whether your last one is actually over.

How a Previous Marriage Has to End

Three events legally end a marriage and clear the way for you to remarry: divorce, annulment, or the death of your spouse. A divorce is a court order that dissolves a valid marriage and returns both people to single status. An annulment is different because it declares the marriage was never valid to begin with, typically because of fraud, duress, or one party being underage. Death of a spouse ends the marriage automatically.

There is also a less common path when a spouse simply disappears. If your spouse has been missing for a long stretch with no evidence they are alive, you can petition a court to declare them presumed dead. The required absence varies by state and generally runs five to seven years. California uses five years; New York and Texas require seven. Courts usually expect you to document the efforts you made to find the missing person before granting the declaration.

Legal Separation Is Not Enough

Legal separation trips people up. A separation can resolve property division, custody, and support, but it does not end the marriage. You are still legally married during a separation, which means marrying someone new would be bigamous. Only a finalized divorce restores your ability to marry again.

Common-Law Marriage

A handful of states still recognize common-law marriage, in which a couple can be legally married without a ceremony or license. A common-law marriage is just as binding as a ceremonial one, and it takes a formal divorce to end. Walking away from that kind of relationship and marrying someone else is one of the more common ways people accidentally commit bigamy.

State Waiting Periods After Divorce

Even once your divorce is finalized, some states make you wait before you can remarry. These cooling-off periods run from 30 days to six months. A Social Security Administration summary of state marriage and divorce laws lists examples including:

Alabama: 60 days after the divorce decree.
Massachusetts: 90 days, during which the initial decree has not yet become final.
Rhode Island: at least three months after trial and decision before the final decree is entered; a remarriage during that window is void.
Nebraska: six months after the decree is entered.
Texas: six months, though a court can waive this for good cause.
Oregon: 30 days.
Vermont: three months, unless the court shortens it.
Wisconsin: six months.³

A marriage that takes place during a mandatory waiting period can be treated as void, so confirm your state’s rule before setting a date.

Proving Your Last Marriage Ended

When you apply for a new marriage license, the clerk’s office will ask about any prior marriages. At minimum, expect to give the date and manner your last marriage ended. Some jurisdictions want supporting documents, such as a certified copy of a divorce decree, an annulment order, or a death certificate. Others let you state the facts under oath at the counter. Rules vary by county, so call ahead.

If your divorce paperwork is lost, the court that handled the case should still have a record. You can also request a divorce certificate from the vital records office in the state where the divorce happened. A certificate is less detailed than the full decree, but it confirms the names, place, and date of the divorce, which is usually enough for a marriage license application.⁴

Foreign Divorces

If a prior marriage ended through a divorce in another country, whether U.S. authorities will recognize that divorce depends on state law. States may consider whether both parties knew about and could participate in the foreign proceedings and whether at least one party lived in the foreign country at the time. Certified, authenticated, or translated copies of both the foreign marriage certificate and the divorce decree are often required. If the country participates in the Apostille Convention, an apostille serves as authentication; otherwise, the local U.S. embassy or consulate can authenticate the document.⁵

What Happens If You Remarry Without Ending the Last Marriage

Bigamy is a felony in most states, with prison sentences that commonly range from one to five years. A few states go harder. Mississippi allows up to 10 years and bars convicted individuals from holding public office. A smaller group, including Colorado, Hawaii, and Arkansas, classifies bigamy as a misdemeanor with shorter jail terms. A conviction becomes part of your criminal record and can affect custody disputes, professional licensing, and immigration status.²

The new marriage itself is void from the start. Unlike a voidable marriage, which stays valid until a court annuls it, a void marriage is treated as though it never existed.⁶ The innocent party has no automatic spousal rights to property division, inheritance, or benefits.

Some states soften that outcome through the putative spouse doctrine. Someone who genuinely believed the marriage was valid can claim marital property rights and, in some states, inheritance rights alongside the legal spouse.⁷ States that recognize the doctrine include Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana, and Minnesota.⁸ The protection only helps if you had no reason to know the marriage was invalid.

How Remarriage Affects Benefits and Support

The legal ability to remarry is one question. The financial fallout is another, and it catches people off guard.

Social Security

If your previous marriage lasted at least 10 years, you may be eligible for Social Security retirement benefits based on your ex-spouse’s earnings record.⁹ Remarrying generally ends that eligibility. Benefits on the former spouse’s record stop, and you should report the new marriage to avoid overpayments.¹⁰

Survivor benefits follow a different rule that turns on your age. Remarrying before 60 generally makes you ineligible for survivor benefits on a deceased spouse’s record. Remarrying at 60 or later does not affect eligibility, and you can keep collecting survivor benefits after the new marriage.¹¹ If you remarried before 60 but that later marriage ends by divorce or death, you can potentially regain eligibility on the deceased spouse’s record.¹² At 62, you also gain the option of switching to benefits on the new spouse’s record if those would be higher.

Alimony

In most states, remarriage automatically terminates alimony or spousal support from a prior spouse. The paying spouse may still need a court order confirming the termination, but the obligation typically ends on the date of the new marriage. Even moving in with a new partner without remarrying can reduce or end alimony in some jurisdictions if a court finds the arrangement resembles marriage.

Military Survivor Benefit Plan

Surviving spouses and former spouses receiving Military Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) annuity payments face a bright-line age rule. Remarrying before 55 suspends SBP payments. If that later marriage ends for any reason, eligibility is reinstated starting the first day of the month the marriage ends. Remarrying at 55 or later has no effect. DFAS also mails an annual marital-status verification letter to annuitants under 55, and failing to return it can interrupt payments on its own.¹³

Extra Scrutiny in Immigration Cases

Anyone applying for a marriage-based green card has to show two things: that the current marriage is legally valid and that it is genuine. Multiple prior marriages raise the level of scrutiny. USCIS requires proof that every previous marriage of both the petitioner and the intending immigrant has been legally terminated before it will recognize the current one.¹

Foreign divorce decrees draw especially close review. USCIS has expressed serious doubts about divorce documentation from certain countries and may issue a Request for Evidence asking for additional proof that a prior marriage actually ended. If the earlier divorce turns out to be invalid, the current marriage is treated as invalid too, and the green card application is denied. The same question can come back later during a naturalization application, when USCIS reassesses the validity of the underlying marriage-based green card.¹

1
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 6, Part B, Chapter 6 – Spouses
2
Legal Information Institute. Polygamy
3
Social Security Administration. GN 00305.165 – Summaries of State Laws on Divorce and Remarriage
4
USAGov. How to Get a Copy of a Divorce Decree or Certificate
5
U.S. Department of State. Divorce
6
Legal Information Institute. Voidable Marriage
7
Legal Information Institute. Putative Spouse Doctrine
8
Social Security Administration. GN 00305.085 – Putative Marriage
9
Social Security Administration. More Info – If You Had a Prior Marriage
10
Social Security Administration. href=”https://www.ssa.gov/blog/en/posts/2024-08-22.html” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>Will Remarrying Affect My Social Security Benefits
11
Social Security Administration. Survivors Benefits
12
Social Security Administration. Will Remarrying Affect My Social Security Benefits
13
Defense Finance and Accounting Service. How Remarriage Before Age 55 Affects SBP Eligibility