Am I free to remarry in the Catholic Church?

[DaisyMae56]

I became a Catholic after my divorce. My former husband died before an annulment could be filed. Given my situation, would I be free to remarry in the Catholic Church? As a convert, I’d like to better understand this.

 

[Sillara]

Are you saying that the man you married, then divorced is now deceased? In that case, there would be no need for any investigation into the validity of the marriage. Whether it was valid or not is now irrelevant. It ended with your husband’s death. You are now free to remarry, just as any widow would be.

 

[kmuestwin]

You are a widow. Feel free to remarry.

 

[Pfaffenhoffen]

I became a Catholic after my divorce. My former husband died before an annulment could be filed. Given my situation, would I be free to remarry in the Catholic Church? As a convert, I’d like to better understand this.

You did not marry in the Catholic Church, so you do not have to follow Catholic Church’s Laws.
Your husband died, so you are now a widow, you may marry again.
You are a Catholic, so you may marry in the Catholic Church.

Now, a good reflection for you is why did you divorce? Were you entitled to an anulment? The questions is that in the Catholic Church, marriage is for life and you, my view, it would good for you to see whether you accept marriage for life no matter what…

 

[Newbie2]

You did not marry in the Catholic Church, so you do not have to follow Catholic Church’s Laws.
Your husband died, so you are now a widow, you may marry again.
You are a Catholic, so you may marry in the Catholic Church.

Now, a good reflection for you is why did you divorce? Were you entitled to an anulment? The questions is that in the Catholic Church, marriage is for life and you, my view, it would good for you to see whether you accept marriage for life no matter what…

That statement needs to be clarified: A person who was not married in the Catholic Church, divorces, and wished to be married in the Catholic Church may need to have that marriage deemed non-valid i.e. annuled.

Either way, in the OP’s situation it is a moot point. Spouse dies=marriage ends.

 

[puzzleannie]

I became a Catholic after my divorce. My former husband died before an annulment could be filed. Given my situation, would I be free to remarry in the Catholic Church? As a convert, I’d like to better understand this.

those are the questions to ask right up front when begining the RCIA process so there is no confusion, no doubt your post will help others in a similar situation.

without presuming to comment on your individual situation, which only your own priest can do, in general if that scenario was the entire story, such a person would indeed be free to marry, ie, no living spouse, assuming there are no other barriers to valid marriage.

 

[SMHW]

I became a Catholic after my divorce. My former husband died before an annulment could be filed. Given my situation, would I be free to remarry in the Catholic Church? As a convert, I’d like to better understand this.

It would seem that you are free to marry (so long as there is not some piece of puzzle that we are missing). There are no logical possibilities for you to be married now regardless of whether or not you were validly married in the past. Your marriage was either null prior to the death of your “husband” or it is non-existent now due to his death.

You need only produce evidence of his death. If you don’t have one you should obtain a copy of his death certificate.