Bigamy in United States

Bigamy Definition

At Common Law. The willfully contracting a second marriage when the contracting party knows that the first is still subsisting. The state of a man who has two lives, or of a woman who has two husbands, living at the same time. When the man has more than two wives, or the woman more than two husbands, living at the same time, then the party is said to have committed polygamy; but the name of bigamy is more frequently given to this offense in legal proceedings. 1 Russ. Crimes, 187; Clark & Marshall. Crimes, 1103. But as the substance of the offense is marrying a second time while having a lawful husband or wife living, without regard to the number of marriages that may have taken place, ‘bigamy’ seems not an inappropriate term. The objection to its use urged by Blackstone (4 Bl. Comm. 163) seems to be founded not so much upon considerations of the etymology of the word, as upon the propriety of distinguishing the ecclesiastical offense, termed ‘bigamy’ in the canon law, and defined below, from the offense known as ‘bigamy’ in the modern criminal law. The same distinction is carefully made by Lord Coke, 4 Inst. 88. But the ecclesiastical offense being now obsolete, this reason ceases to have weight. Abbott. In the Canon Law. According to canonists, bigamy is threefold, viz., vera, interpretativa, et similitudinaria, real, interpretative, and similitudinary. The first consisted in marrying two wives successively (virgins they may be), or in once marrying a widow; the second consisted, not in a repeated marriage, but in marrying (e. g., meretricem vel ab alio corruptam) a harlot; the third arose from two marriages, indeed, but the one metaphorical or spiritual, the other carnal. This last was confined to persons initiated in sacred orders, or under the vow of continence. Deferriere’s Tract. Juris Canon, tit. 21. See, also, Bac. Abr. Marriage.

Bigamy in Foreign Legal Encyclopedias

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Bigamy	Bigamy in the Australian Legal Encyclopedia.

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Legal Issue for Attorneys

At Common Law. The willfully contracting a second marriage when the contracting party knows that the first is still subsisting. The state of a man who has two lives, or of a woman who has two husbands, living at the same time. When the man has more than two wives, or the woman more than two husbands, living at the same time, then the party is said to have committed polygamy; but the name of bigamy is more frequently given to this offense in legal proceedings. 1 Russ. Crimes, 187; Clark & Marshall. Crimes, 1103. But as the substance of the offense is marrying a second time while having a lawful husband or wife living, without regard to the number of marriages that may have taken place, ‘bigamy’ seems not an inappropriate term. The objection to its use urged by Blackstone (4 Bl. Comm. 163) seems to be founded not so much upon considerations of the etymology of the word, as upon the propriety of distinguishing the ecclesiastical offense, termed ‘bigamy’ in the canon law, and defined below, from the offense known as ‘bigamy’ in the modern criminal law. The same distinction is carefully made by Lord Coke, 4 Inst. 88. But the ecclesiastical offense being now obsolete, this reason ceases to have weight. Abbott. In the Canon Law. According to canonists, bigamy is threefold, viz., vera, interpretativa, et similitudinaria, real, interpretative, and similitudinary. The first consisted in marrying two wives successively (virgins they may be), or in once marrying a widow; the second consisted, not in a repeated marriage, but in marrying (e. g., meretricem vel ab alio corruptam) a harlot; the third arose from two marriages, indeed, but the one metaphorical or spiritual, the other carnal. This last was confined to persons initiated in sacred orders, or under the vow of continence. Deferriere’s Tract. Juris Canon, tit. 21. See, also, Bac. Abr. Marriage.

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Notice

This definition of Bigamy is based on The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary. This entry needs to be proofread.

Practical Information

Note: Some of this information was last updated in 1982

A criminal offense whereby one marries when one has a living legal spouse. The law treats the second marriage as nonexistent and the innocent spouse is free to remarry.

(Revised by Ann De Vries)

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