Bigamy and Polygamy

Bigamy is the act of a married person marrying yet another person. While the basic definition of bigamy is broad enough to include polygamy and the terms are occasionally used interchangeably, the practices differ. A bigamous person has two spouses; a polygamous person has many spouses. In contemporary society, it is a crime by statute. Bigamy is not acceptable even if it is sanctioned by religious beliefs of the parties involved.

The court with jurisdiction over bigamy must lie within the jurisdiction where the crime occurred; in other words, the jurisdiction where the second marriage took place. A statute that would allow for prosecution in some other state would be unconstitutional.

Jurisdiction

However, most statutes addressing this crime expand the definition of the term bigamy to include cohabitation as well. Cohabitation is the act of the parties in a bigamous or polygamous relationship living together. Therefore parties who commit bigamy (marry) in one state and then move to another may be prosecuted for cohabitating in their state of residence.

The legislative theory behind combining these acts into one statute is that the state has the responsibility to protect the public morality from the practice of cohabitation resultant from bigamy. Thus there is no jurisdictional problem.

Guilt and Validity

An unmarried person who marries a married person is bigamous, if that person knew of the other existing marriage. The crime of bigamy is based on the assumption that the first marriage is valid at the time of the second. Determination of the validity of the first marriage must be made under the laws of the place where the initial marriage occurred.

If the first marriage is valid, the second is bigamous even though the defendant believed that the first marriage was invalid, absent a statute providing otherwise. In recent years, a blanket provision has been adopted in a number of jurisdictions that allows a defense for bigamy if the accused believed in good faith that the first marriage was void.

Bigamous marriages are by definition void: a man marries a second wife during the course of a first marriage, and the first marriage is dissolved by death or divorce. He then marries a third wife. He can be convicted of bigamy for the second marriage but not the third. Because the second marriage is bigamous it is void, and because the third marriage occurred after the dissolution of the first it is valid.

The statute of limitations begins to run from the date of the second marriage. Where the statutory violation is cohabitation after a bigamous marriage, the statute of limitations does not begin to run until the cohabitation ceases.

Prolonged Absence

Statutes provide that it is a legitimate defense for bigamy that the defendant's spouse has been absent for a prolonged period during which it was not known whether the absent party was alive. The statutory periods of absence vary, although five years is common. In some jurisdictions such as Connecticut, there is no specified period of time. It is sufficient that the defendant "reasonably believed, based on persuasive and reliable information, that the prior spouse was dead." Absent any such statutory provision, this will not be an acceptable defense.