Braunwyn Windham-Burke Finalizes Divorce from Sean Burke: ‘I Can Finally Start My Next Chapter’ (Exclusive)

Braunwyn Windham-Burke and Sean Burke are officially married.

PEOPLE can confirm that it is the first The Real Housewives of Orange County star’s divorce was finalized on Friday, more than a year after she filed for dissolution of their 23-year marriage.

The former couple was awarded 50/50 custody of their seven children: Bella, 23; Rowan, 21 years old; Jakov, 17 years old; 10-year-old twins Caden and Curren; Koa, 8; and Hazel, 5. Sean was ordered in April to pay Brauwnyn $5,000 a month in spousal support and $6,000 a month in child support.

“Today feels like the first day of the rest of my life,” Braunwyn tells PEOPLE. “You know, you go your whole life with everybody telling you what to do to be happy. And you get to a certain point where you say, ‘No, actually — this is what I want to do. I’m going to live for me.’ And I’m delighted that at 45 I have a second chance to live for myself.”

Braunwyn Windham-Burke and Jennifer Spinner get anniversary tattoos: ‘We did (another) thing’

Braunwyn Windham-Burke and Sean Burke. Braunwyn Windham-Burke/Instagram

Another opportunity for Braunwyn will be her upcoming wedding to fiancée Jennifer Spinner. “Now I can finally actually walk down the aisle,” he jokes. “I’m really excited to start my next chapter.”

She and Spinner will also be moving out of the house they share with Sean in Tennessee.

“We moved here and never expected Sean to move in with us, but we’ve tried ‘bird’s nest parenting’ and it’s just not working,” says Braunwyn. “So Jen and I are moving into our own home in December and the kids will be moving back and forth. It’s walking distance so it’ll be better for everyone involved.”

Braunwyn Windham-Burke and Jennifer Spinner. zerojack/Star Max/GC Images Braunwyn Windham-Burke teases her estranged husband could be invited to her wedding: ‘It depends on the day’

Braunwyn — who got sober in January 2020 and came out as a lesbian nearly a year later — and Spinner have been dating since July 2022, after meeting on Instagram.

In their time together, the two women have taken many steps to show their affection. They exchanged promise rings in January, exchanged vows in a Las Vegas wedding chapel on Valentine’s Day, moved to Tennessee together in the spring and got a pair of matching tattoos to mark their relationship in July.

Braunwyn Windham-Burke and Jennifer Spinner in October 2022. Tommaso Boddi/Getty

To celebrate their first date, Braunwyn surprised Spinner by proposing to her in New York’s 14th Street Park – a stone’s throw from where they first kissed.

“I’ve never been happier,” Windham-Burke told PEOPLE at the time of the milestone. “Jen is my person. She once said to me, ‘How much do you love me?’ I looked at her and said, ‘It doesn’t matter how much I love you. It matters how little I love you. I love you on a molecular level.’ And that’s really it. My DNA was made for her.”

Braunwyn Windham-Burke and Jennifer Spinner are engaged! Inside the ‘RHOC’ Star’s Romantic Proposal (Exclusive)

Braunwyn Windham-Burke and Jennifer Spinner.

CJ Sykes

Spinner (39) then returned the proposal by getting down on one knee and proposing to herself in October. “Today I asked my best friend in the world, and my four littlest best friends in the world, if they wanted to make this little family we’re forming forever,” Spinner wrote on Instagram. “The past year+ has given me more gifts than any one person could ever deserve. With this team in my corner, life will never be boring, it will always be rich, and it will always bring me tears of happiness when I let myself soak it all in.”

“[Braunwyn] thanks GD for saying yes, because it would have been really awkward if the kids made that sign for nothing 😂,” Spinner joked. “I ❤️ you (everything) with everything I am.”

Braunwyn Windham-Burke re-engaged after fiancée Jennifer Spinner proposed: ‘I can’t wait to be your wife’

Braunwyn Windham-Burke and Jennifer Spinner.

Braunwyn Windham/Instagram

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The two are currently in Germany, where they will go on vacation. (Due to the split nature of their custody agreement, Braunwyn will have the children for Christmas.)

“I feel like I can finally breathe again,” Braunwyn wrote on Instagram Saturday, captioning a photo of her and Spinner from their getaway.

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Source: HIS Education