N.Y. Domestic Relations Law § 253: Removal of barriers to remarriage

§ 253. Removal of barriers to remarriage. 1. This section applies only

to a marriage solemnized in this state or in any other jurisdiction by a

person specified in subdivision one of section eleven of this chapter.

2. Any party to a marriage defined in subdivision one of this section

who commences a proceeding to annul the marriage or for a divorce must

allege, in his or her verified complaint: (i) that, to the best of his

or her knowledge, that he or she has taken or that he or she will take,

prior to the entry of final judgment, all steps solely within his or her

power to remove any barrier to the defendant's remarriage following the

annulment or divorce; or (ii) that the defendant has waived in writing

the requirements of this subdivision.

3. No final judgment of annulment or divorce shall thereafter be

entered unless the plaintiff shall have filed and served a sworn

statement: (i) that, to the best of his or her knowledge, he or she has,

prior to the entry of such final judgment, taken all steps solely within

his or her power to remove all barriers to the defendant's remarriage

following the annulment or divorce; or (ii) that the defendant has

waived in writing the requirements of this subdivision.

4. In any action for divorce based on subdivisions five and six of

section one hundred seventy of this chapter in which the defendant

enters a general appearance and does not contest the requested relief,

no final judgment of annulment or divorce shall be entered unless both

parties shall have filed and served sworn statements: (i) that he or she

has, to the best of his or her knowledge, taken all steps solely within

his or her power to remove all barriers to the other party's remarriage

following the annulment or divorce; or (ii) that the other party has

waived in writing the requirements of this subdivision.

5. The writing attesting to any waiver of the requirements of

subdivision two, three or four of this section shall be filed with the

court prior to the entry of a final judgment of annulment or divorce.

6. As used in the sworn statements prescribed by this section "barrier

to remarriage" includes, without limitation, any religious or

conscientious restraint or inhibition, of which the party required to

make the verified statement is aware, that is imposed on a party to a

marriage, under the principles held by the clergyman or minister who has

solemnized the marriage, by reason of the other party's commission or

withholding of any voluntary act. Nothing in this section shall be

construed to require any party to consult with any clergyman or minister

to determine whether there exists any such religious or conscientious

restraint or inhibition. It shall not be deemed a "barrier to

remarriage" within the meaning of this section if the restraint or

inhibition cannot be removed by the party's voluntary act. Nor shall it

be deemed a "barrier to remarriage" if the party must incur expenses in

connection with removal of the restraint or inhibition and the other

party refuses to provide reasonable reimbursement for such expenses.

"All steps solely within his or her power" shall not be construed to

include application to a marriage tribunal or other similar organization

or agency of a religious denomination which has authority to annul or

dissolve a marriage under the rules of such denomination.

7. No final judgment of annulment or divorce shall be entered,

notwithstanding the filing of the plaintiff's sworn statement prescribed

by this section, if the clergyman or minister who has solemnized the

marriage certifies, in a sworn statement, that he or she has solemnized

the marriage and that, to his or her knowledge, the plaintiff has failed

to take all steps solely within his or her power to remove all barriers

to the defendant's remarriage following the annulment or divorce,

provided that the said clergyman or minister is alive and available and

competent to testify at the time when final judgment would be entered.

8. Any person who knowingly submits a false sworn statement under this

section shall be guilty of making an apparently sworn false statement in

the first degree and shall be punished in accordance with section 210.40

of the penal law.

9. Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize any court

to inquire into or determine any ecclesiastical or religious issue. The

truth of any statement submitted pursuant to this section shall not be

the subject of any judicial inquiry, except as provided in subdivision

eight of this section.