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Marriage Requirements: Bigamy
One of the requirements before applying for a marriage license is the dissolution or annulment of all previous marriages. If one intentionally fails to do this, it results in the crime of bigamy. Bigamy is at the lowest level of felonies or highest of misdemeanors, equivalent to failing to register as a sex offender and stealing a dog, and the penalties can be less than a drunk driving conviction.
The penalty for bigamy in California is up to $10,000 or 1 year in jail. The spouse of a bigamist can also be charged $5,000 if she or he knew that the bigamist was married. In Idaho, it is $2,000 or 3 years in jail. Oklahoma gives 5 years in jail.
Bigamy should be contrasted with polygamy and “polyamory,” which is when multiple husbands or wives voluntarily live together. In bigamy, on the other hand, the multiple marriages are usually kept secret by the bigamist. The bigamist has trouble ending one relationship before starting another, which tends to tear families apart.
There is no national marriage database to immediately access a person’s marriage background when they apply for a marriage license. Therefore, most states excuse a person who reasonably believes that her previous marriage had been dissolved through death, divorce, or annulment. A person can also be excused if she had no contact with her spouse for 3-5 years, and for all she knew, he could have died.
Because bigamy can carry legal consequences, all marrying persons need to make sure that their previous marriage was dissolved, by ordering a notarized copy of the divorce decree from the county clerk’s office.
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