Not so fast: Tiki Baber can’t remarry until divorce is finalized

Wisconsin is like all other states in that it has a few general requirements for adults entering into marriage. First, each has to be over the age of 18, must be able to consent, must be capable of sexual intercourse and must not be a party to an undissolved marriage. That last part means a divorce must be final before someone can marry another person.

New York has similar requirements and the last one, about not marrying someone while still being married to another person, is apparently where former New York Giants running back Tiki Barber’s plans to marry his second wife have gone awry.

Barber has been engaged to his fiancée for awhile now and planned to marry her this spring, but it seems that he is going to have to delay the wedding until his divorce from his previous wife is finalized.

Barber separated from his wife Ginny Cha in April 2010. He has entered into a new relationship with Traci Johnson, whom he met while working as a television commentator, and the two evidently made arrangements to wed in the spring.

However, Barber’s divorce from Cha is still tried up in Manhattan Supreme Court because Barber and Cha cannot agree on a property settlement. Barber has said he cannot afford what Cha is asking in terms of spousal maintenance and child support (the couple have four children). In this instance, however, Cha has a bargaining chip because she knows Barber cannot marry Johnson until their divorce is finalized. It is improper to stall a divorce proceeding for an improper purpose like a delay for delay’s sake and her lawyer would likely decline to go along with it, but still — Cha does not exactly have an incentive to hurry things along.

Source: The New York Post, “Tiki, Traci wedding glitch,” Nov. 14, 2011