If my German ex-spouse remarries, does alimony end?

A common and important question after a cross-border divorce. The short answer: it depends on who remarries, and on what kind of support you mean.

First, separate the two kinds of support. German law treats post-marital spousal maintenance (nachehelicher Unterhalt — support paid to the ex-spouse) and child support (Kindesunterhalt) as entirely different things. They follow different rules on remarriage, and mixing them up is where confusion usually starts.

If the ex-spouse who receives support remarries, spousal maintenance generally ends. Under § 1586 BGB, the claim for post-marital spousal maintenance lapses when the recipient remarries or enters a registered civil partnership. The logic is that a new marriage brings a new duty of mutual support, so the obligation of the former spouse falls away. This is usually a definitive end, not a pause.

One narrow exception. Under § 1586a BGB, if that later marriage itself ends, a claim for maintenance while caring for a child of the first marriage can revive against the first spouse. It is limited and fact-specific — but worth knowing it exists.

If the paying ex-spouse remarries, the obligation does not simply disappear. A new marriage on the payer's side does not end the existing maintenance claim. It can, however, affect what the payer is able to pay, because new support duties enter the overall picture — so the amount may come up for review even though the claim itself continues.

Child support is different — remarriage does not end it. A parent's duty to support their child does not stop because either parent remarries. A new spouse is not, as a rule, obliged to support the other spouse's child, and the child's own claim remains. Amounts can be recalculated as circumstances change, but the underlying obligation stands.

The practical takeaway: “my ex remarried” changes spousal support significantly — often ending it if it is the recipient who remarries — but leaves child support intact. Because the figures and exceptions turn on the specifics, it is worth having the exact situation checked.