Skyrim: Here’s How To Get Divorced & Remarry

As you know very well, Dragonborn has time for family life. It is possible to get married in Skyrim, and we’ve even covered a guide on adopting children a while back. Ultimately, like in real life, marriages sometimes don’t work out, and you might realize that Lydia, after all, is not the right partner for you. A path to divorce in Skyrim is a dark one, but once you manage to “dispose” of your partner, many players have been wondering can you remarry in Skyrim? And if it’s possible, how to do it? 

How does marriage in Skyrim work? 

Skyrim allows you to marry one NPC that is deemed eligible for marriage. Not all NPCs are flagged as being marriageable, and not all NPCs flagged as being marriageable will be open to marriage before you complete a specific quest or activity tied to them. 

In general, in order for the “marriage” dialogue option to appear, you will have to raise your relationship with an NPC to appropriate levels. The other prerequisites are talking about marriage with a priest, Maramal in Riften, and having an amulet of Mara. 

Once you’ve gotten married, your spouse can move in with you, or you can move in with them if their property is better. Your spouse may set up a shop, which you will benefit from as well. You have access to homecooked meals, occasional gifts from your spouse as well as a buff called Lover’s Comfort that allows you to level up your skills faster by 15 % for the next eight hours. 

There are numerous benefits to being married, but somewhere along the way, you might meet a new NPC, and you might want to replace your spouse, so how can you do that? 

How do you get a divorce in Skyrim? 

The only way to get a divorce in Skyrim is to kill your spouse or to use console commands. There’s no “it’s not me, it’s you” line in Skyrim that you can use. And no legal system or game mechanic that allows you to get a divorce. As we’ve mentioned, you can always eliminate your spouse in a secluded place away from guards, and your “problem” will be solved. If you don’t want to resort to that, you can always use the following command: 

• completequest 0007431B
• resetquest 0007431B
• resetquest 00021382

This is an “unused” relationship breakup quest that cannot be started in-game without the use of commands. Keep in mind that using these commands will result in your ex-spouse detesting you (naturally). 

The second command you can use to divorce your spouse is the following: 

• removefac 51596
• player.removefac C6472
• resetquest 74793
• resetquest 21382
• setstage 74793 10

This command removes your spouse from the marriage faction and resets the marriage quest so it can be started all over again with another NPC. Keep in mind that after using this command, your spouse will immediately leave your house due to no longer belonging to the “marriage” faction. All items belonging to your ex-spouse should be transferred to you if you wish to keep them. 

Can you remarry in Skyrim? 

You cannot remarry in Skyrim without the use of console commands or an Unofficial Skyrim Special Edition Patch. The mechanic was supposed to be implemented, but it’s bugged. The command to restart the marriage quest was never implemented so the quest can never resolve nor restart properly. After eliminating your former spouse, the game cannot register the marriage quest as being over, and it cannot restart.  

How do you remarry in Skyrim?

There are several options to remarry in Skyrim and all of them include installing third-party solutions or exploiting the game’s console commands system. You can remarry in Skyrim by using the following solutions: 

1. Install Unofficial Skyrim Special Edition Patch 

Once you install the Unofficial Skyrim Special Edition Patch, the marriage quest gets fixed, and you are able to get married again (after you have disposed of your current spouse). The patch fixes the bug by implementing the “restart” command after the death of your spouse. You can download the patch from here. This patch will fix numerous other bugs related to quests, missing lines, items, and NPCs. So, even if you’re not planning on remarrying, it’s always useful to install it. 

2. Use the console command to divorce your spouse in Skyrim.

We’ve already mentioned this command in the above “divorce” section, but we’re going to repeat it again. Since it technically allows you to remarry. 

1. open your console by pressing “~”
2. Target your spouse and enter the following commands 
3. removefac 51596
4. player.removefac C6472
5. resetquest 74793
6. resetquest 21382
7. setstage 74793 10

3. Eliminate your spouse and then use console commands 

This command allows you to remarry as well after your spouse has died. 

Follow the steps to use the command: 

1. Dispose of your spouse 
2. open your console by pressing “~”
3. type Setstage RelationshipMarriage 10
4. Optionally you can use resurrect to return your spouse back to life and setrelationshiprank player 4 so that your ex-partner doesn’t hate you. 

It’s important to mention that if you want to “eliminate” your spouse, you will have to do it yourself. Once you marry your spouse, it gets “protected” status, which means that it can’t be killed by other NPCs, but it can be killed by you.

This means that leaving your spouse in the middle of Hjaalmarch surrounded by 20 frenzied vampires and at least 5 Draugr Death Overlords will not work. You will have to do the dirty work yourself.

And that’s pretty much it. Every command in this post will allow you to eventually remarry, “divorcing” an NPC is the tricky part, as well as manipulating the game’s bugged mechanics and quests. 

Have something to add? Let us know in the comments below!