The believer will be subject to sanctions if he should marry a third party within the year of patience, not only because it is a violation of the year of patience itself, but also because even though a civil divorce has been granted, the Bahá'í divorce cannot be granted until the end of the year of patience. For this reason no marriage is possible during the running of the year of patience unless the parties to the divorce remarry each other in a civil ceremony.
- The Universal House of Justice (From a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice, dated July 18, 1973, quoted in the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Canada's Assembly Resource Compilation)
In cases in which your Assembly has decided that the believer was ignorant of the law requiring him to have a Bahá'í divorce before marrying another, and a civil divorce has already been obtained, your Assembly may in its discretion excuse him and he would be regarded as in the same status as one who obtained a divorce before becoming a Bahá'í.
- The Universal House of Justice (From a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice, dated March 14, 1976; compilation: ‘Developing Distinctive Baha’i Communities’, prepared by NSA of USA, 1998 edition)