Answer

Am I Still Sealed After Divorce?

If you were married in the temple and are now divorced, you may wonder, “Am I still sealed? Did the divorce undo what happened in the temple?” Those questions can carry more than doctrinal uncertainty. The sealing may represent promises you cherished, a marriage you fought to save, or a future you once expected to have. Let’s separate what a civil divorce does from what happens with a temple sealing.

A civil divorce ends the legal marriage, but it does not by itself cancel a temple sealing. A sealing cancellation is a separate matter. Even after divorce, you can continue keeping the covenants you personally made with God and receiving the blessings that come through your own faithfulness.

In Matthew 19:3–8, the Pharisees questioned Jesus about divorce. He took them back to the Creation and taught that God intended husband and wife to become one. He also acknowledged that divorce had been permitted in a fallen world. That helps us hold both the Lord’s eternal pattern and the complexity of mortal life. Some marriages end after betrayal, abandonment, addiction, abuse, or years of serious difficulty. Others end with mistakes and sorrow on both sides.

The Family: A Proclamation to the World teaches that temple ordinances make eternal family relationships possible. President Dallin H. Oaks promised divorced members in “Divorce” that faithful disciples “will not be denied the blessings of eternal family relationships.”

That promise may not answer every question about your former spouse, remarriage, children, or exactly how relationships will be arranged in eternity. Some questions genuinely require individual guidance from priesthood leaders, and some answers may not come immediately. But uncertainty about those details does not mean God has withdrawn His promises.

Research on adults going through divorce found that coping through religion was associated with greater personal growth afterward. Faith did not make the loss simple, but it could become part of rebuilding.

A few things to consider: Have I confused the end of my marriage with the end of God’s promises? Which questions need help from my bishop? What am I still grieving that deserves patience?

This week, write down your specific sealing questions, read President Oaks’s message, and take the questions that remain to your bishop. Jesus Christ understands both covenant promises and mortal heartbreak, and He can help you move forward without pretending that either is simple.