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Bigamy or not?

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Medvetzger

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida.


A man gets married in the state of Florida, and a year later his wife packs her things and leaves. Nine years pass and not a word is ever heard from the wife, she could be deceased for all the man knows, even though he he has no evidence indicating one way or the other.
The man then marries a woman from Venezuela, the marriage taking place in Venezuela.
Is this bigamy, and if it is, could the man be charged with bigamy in the U.S. even though the bigamous marriage took place off American soil and in Venezuela?
 


LdiJ

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida.


A man gets married in the state of Florida, and a year later his wife packs her things and leaves. Nine years pass and not a word is ever heard from the wife, she could be deceased for all the man knows, even though he he has no evidence indicating one way or the other.
The man then marries a woman from Venezuela, the marriage taking place in Venezuela.
Is this bigamy, and if it is, could the man be charged with bigamy in the U.S. even though the bigamous marriage took place off American soil and in Venezuela?
Yep, its bigamy and yes he could be charged with the crime of bigamy even though the marriage took place in another country. (assuming he is in the US)

If he brought his new wife to the US, based on his marriage and applied for a green card for her, then you throw immigration fraud into the mix as well.
 

Medvetzger

Junior Member
Suppose after getting married in Venezuela he returns to America and goes through the process of getting a divorce in absence from the first wife. After the divorce from the first wife is finalized, does bigamy still exist since the 2nd marriage took place before the disolution of the first, or now that the first marriage is disolved does the second one now become valid?
 

mistoffolees

Senior Member
Yep, its bigamy and yes he could be charged with the crime of bigamy even though the marriage took place in another country. (assuming he is in the US)

If he brought his new wife to the US, based on his marriage and applied for a green card for her, then you throw immigration fraud into the mix as well.
It is bigamy ONLY IF the wife never got a divorce and is still alive. It's not impossible for her to have gotten a divorce in the meantime.

First step is to find out of the first wife ever got a divorce and if she's still alive. Check the court records and/or try to track her down (the internet is a great help here).

If she never got a divorce, then you'll need to see an attorney.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
It is bigamy ONLY IF the wife never got a divorce and is still alive. It's not impossible for her to have gotten a divorce in the meantime.

First step is to find out of the first wife ever got a divorce and if she's still alive. Check the court records and/or try to track her down (the internet is a great help here).

If she never got a divorce, then you'll need to see an attorney.
That is certainly true. However she may be difficult to find to ask. Therefore he may simply have to file for divorce anyway. (service by publication).
 

mistoffolees

Senior Member
That is certainly true. However she may be difficult to find to ask. Therefore he may simply have to file for divorce anyway. (service by publication).
That's true, but doesn't change the fact that your instant response "Yep, its bigamy" was wrong.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
That's true, but doesn't change the fact that your instant response "Yep, its bigamy" was wrong.
Misto, he knew that he never divorced HER, or verified that she divorced him, or verified that she passed away. He knew darned well that he was not free to marry without doing those things. That's still bigamy. He still violated the law.
 

mistoffolees

Senior Member
Misto, he knew that he never divorced HER, or verified that she divorced him, or verified that she passed away. He knew darned well that he was not free to marry without doing those things. That's still bigamy. He still violated the law.
Wrong - as usual.

It's only bigamy if he is still married to someone else. If she had passed away or divorced him even without his knowledge, it would not be bigamy.

Remember the 'innocent until proven guilty' thing?

Granted, it's incredibly stupid to remarry if you're not sure the first marriage is over, but it's not bigamy if he's lucky and she got a divorce - whether he knows about it or not.
 

SteveBrandt

Junior Member
Correct me if I'm wrong, but due to the bigamous marriage (the 2nd one) taking place in a third world, foreign country where record keeping is not up to par like in the U.S., it would seem highly unlikely that anyone would ever find out about it unless the man was foolish enough to tell people.

Almost all of the bigamists that I've read about who were caught, were caught because they married both wives in the same country where everything is connected by computer, and had simultaneous contact with both, or were stupid enough to file their taxes jointly with one or both, thus raising red flags.

A situation like the one described here seems highly unlikely to be discovered unless the man involved talks about it.

I'm not advocating that he commit bigamy, but just stating what seems like an obvious fact. By all means the smartest thing for him to do would be to get a divorce first.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
Correct me if I'm wrong, but due to the bigamous marriage (the 2nd one) taking place in a third world, foreign country where record keeping is not up to par like in the U.S., it would seem highly unlikely that anyone would ever find out about it unless the man was foolish enough to tell people.

Almost all of the bigamists that I've read about who were caught, were caught because they married both wives in the same country where everything is connected by computer, and had simultaneous contact with both, or were stupid enough to file their taxes jointly with one or both, thus raising red flags.

A situation like the one described here seems highly unlikely to be discovered unless the man involved talks about it.

I'm not advocating that he commit bigamy, but just stating what seems like an obvious fact. By all means the smartest thing for him to do would be to get a divorce first.
How do you know that record keeping is poor in Venezuela?

You do however have a valid point. If someone does a bigamist marriage in another country and remains living in that country, its unlikely that anyone will ever know.

However, if that person wants to return to the US with their new spouse, then there is all kinds of immigration documentation that goes on, and it very likely could get caught at that point.
 

mistoffolees

Senior Member
Correct me if I'm wrong, but due to the bigamous marriage (the 2nd one) taking place in a third world, foreign country where record keeping is not up to par like in the U.S., it would seem highly unlikely that anyone would ever find out about it unless the man was foolish enough to tell people.

Almost all of the bigamists that I've read about who were caught, were caught because they married both wives in the same country where everything is connected by computer, and had simultaneous contact with both, or were stupid enough to file their taxes jointly with one or both, thus raising red flags.

A situation like the one described here seems highly unlikely to be discovered unless the man involved talks about it.

I'm not advocating that he commit bigamy, but just stating what seems like an obvious fact. By all means the smartest thing for him to do would be to get a divorce first.
That's true, but before going to the time and expense of getting a divorce, the first step would be to find out if his ex was still alive and if she had ever gotten a divorce.
 

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