Some people have the idea that a first marriage was a mistake, but they learned from it. When they get married again, they assume that this second marriage is bound to last. They’re older and wiser now. They can avoid the errors of the first marriage. Maybe they just know what they want now in a way they didn’t before.
If you dig into the statistics, though, you’ll find that this is rarely how it works. Second marriages are not more stable. They actually end at a higher rate than first marriages.
This isn’t to discourage you from getting married a second time. Perhaps your spouse from your first marriage was unfaithful. The failure of the marriage had nothing to do with you, and you still want to be married — just not to the same person. If that’s what you want, you can feel free to get married. But you just need to understand what the statistics tell us about divorce. The odds are higher that you will get divorced the second time around.
You can use this information to protect yourself in some ways. For instance, maybe you did not have a prenuptial agreement the first time you married, thinking you would not get divorced. Do you want to use one for your second marriage so that you’ll be ready if it turns into a second divorce? You can learn valuable lessons from the past that will then help you prepare for the future.
If you do wind up facing a divorce in either your first or your second marriage, make sure you are well aware of the legal steps you need to take and the rights you have.