Maine law places no cap on how many times you can get married. You can marry, divorce, and marry again as many times as life takes you there, provided each previous marriage has been legally ended before the next one begins. The state enforces that condition strictly: every time you apply for a new marriage license after a prior marriage, you have to prove the earlier one is over.
Proof You Have to Show Each Time You Remarry
Anyone who has been married before must submit a certified copy of the divorce decree, annulment, or death record of the former spouse when applying for a new marriage license in Maine. This requirement applies to every remarriage, not just the second one. If you are on your fourth marriage, the clerk will still want documentation showing how each prior marriage ended.
Failing to provide that documentation, or misrepresenting how many times you have been married before, has a severe consequence: the new marriage is void under Maine law.1Maine State Legislature. Maine Revised Statutes Title 19-A 701 – Prohibited Marriages; Exceptions Void means it never legally existed, regardless of the ceremony, the license, or how long you have lived as spouses afterward.
Both partners also have to appear in person at the clerk’s office to apply, and both need photo identification such as a driver’s license.2Maine.gov. Getting Married in Maine Nothing about being on a second or later marriage changes that step.
Remarrying While Still Married Is Void and Also a Crime
The one hard rule behind Maine’s open-ended approach to remarriage is that the prior marriage must be fully dissolved first. A marriage entered while either party still has a living, undivorced spouse is void. The law does not care whether you knew about the prior marriage. If the earlier marriage was legally valid and had not been ended by divorce, annulment, or the spouse’s death, the new one simply does not exist in the eyes of Maine law.1Maine State Legislature. Maine Revised Statutes Title 19-A 701 – Prohibited Marriages; Exceptions
Beyond voiding the second marriage, Maine makes bigamy a criminal offense. A person commits bigamy by intentionally marrying or going through a marriage ceremony while knowing they already have a living spouse and are legally ineligible to remarry. Bigamy is a Class E crime, the least serious criminal category in Maine.3Maine State Legislature. Maine Code Title 17-A 551 – Bigamy A Class E conviction can carry up to six months in county jail and a fine of up to $1,000. The element prosecutors must prove is intent: that you knew you were still married and went through with a new ceremony anyway.
Leaving the state to get around the rule does not work either. If you are a Maine resident and travel out of state specifically to avoid the prohibition on polygamy, then return to live in Maine, that marriage is treated as void here.1Maine State Legislature. Maine Revised Statutes Title 19-A 701 – Prohibited Marriages; Exceptions
The License Process Does Not Change for a Second or Later Marriage
Beyond the proof-of-prior-dissolution requirement, remarrying in Maine follows the same procedure as a first marriage. The standard license fee is $40, paid to the clerk’s office where you apply.4City of Waterville, Maine. Marriage Licenses and Ceremonies Once issued, the license is valid for 90 days and can only be used within Maine. There is no mandatory waiting period between receiving the license and holding the ceremony, so a same-day wedding is possible.2Maine.gov. Getting Married in Maine
Where you apply depends on residency. If both of you live in Maine, you apply in the town where at least one of you lives. If only one partner is a Maine resident, you apply in that partner’s town. If neither of you lives in Maine, you can apply at any town office in the state.2Maine.gov. Getting Married in Maine
The ceremony itself must take place in the physical presence of at least two witnesses, both of whom sign the marriage license. Witnesses do not have to be 18, but they must be old enough to understand they are witnessing a marriage and able to sign their name.5Maine.gov. Marriage Section of Municipal Clerks Handbook
If a Prior Marriage Was Annulled Rather Than Divorced
Annulment and divorce both end a prior marriage for purposes of remarrying, but they are not the same thing. A divorce ends a marriage that was legally valid. An annulment declares that no valid marriage ever existed. Maine courts grant annulments on narrow grounds tied to something being wrong at the moment the marriage was formed: fraud, duress, lack of mental capacity, a prior undissolved marriage, or a party being underage without proper consent. Because the grounds are narrow, annulments are much less common than divorces, and you should expect to present evidence rather than just request one.
When a court grants an annulment, the marriage is treated as though it never happened. Property division and claims to spousal support are affected, because those rights depend on having been legally married. Children born during an annulled marriage keep their legitimacy and their rights to parental support and inheritance.
Annulment also reaches back into your tax history. The IRS treats an annulment as proof that no valid marriage ever existed, which means your filing status for every year the marriage appeared to exist was wrong. You must file amended returns using Form 1040-X for all affected tax years still within the statute of limitations, generally three years from the date you filed the original return or two years from the date you paid the tax, whichever is later. On each amended return, you change your status from married filing jointly or married filing separately to single, or to head of household if you qualify.6Internal Revenue Service. Publication 504, Divorced or Separated Individuals
That recalculation can cut either way. If you filed jointly for several years and the joint return produced a lower bill than two single returns would have, you may owe more tax. If you filed married filing separately, you might be owed a refund. Expect substantial paperwork and complex recalculations of credits, deductions, and income allocations.7Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 308, Amended Returns
Prior Marriages From Other States and Countries
Maine generally recognizes a marriage performed in another state or country if it was valid where it took place.8Maine State Legislature. Maine Code Title 19-A 650-B – Recognition of Marriage Licensed and Certified in Another Jurisdiction For counting purposes, that means a prior out-of-state or foreign marriage counts as a prior marriage you must document when you apply for a new Maine license. A divorce decree from another state satisfies the requirement, as does an annulment or death certificate.
The main exception runs the other way. If a marriage performed in another state would have been barred under Maine’s rules on close family relationships or polygamy, and the couple moves to Maine, the marriage is void here.1Maine State Legislature. Maine Revised Statutes Title 19-A 701 – Prohibited Marriages; Exceptions
Common law marriage affects this calculation too. Maine does not allow couples to form a common law marriage within its borders.9Maine State Legislature. Marriage, Maine State Legislature Law Library But if you formed a valid common law marriage in a state that recognizes them, such as Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, or Texas, Maine will generally recognize it as valid, since it was legal where it was formed. That matters when you remarry in Maine: a common law marriage you formed elsewhere still has to be legally dissolved before your next marriage, and a clerk may ask for documentation showing it ended.