# First polyamorous "marriage" in Colombia

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-polyamorous-marriage-in-colombia/790218>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [June 30, 2017, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-polyamorous-marriage-in-colombia/790218 "2017-06-30T18:24:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\
**Post date:** [June 30, 2017, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-polyamorous-marriage-in-colombia/790218/1 "2017-06-30T18:24:51Z")

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Three men had their [relationship officially recognized in Medellin](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06/13/colombia-gets-first-polyamorous-family-three-men-legally-established/):  
It’s not exactly a marriage, but a legal recognition of their status as a family, with inheritance rights :

> [@](#):
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> Three gay men say they have gained legal recognition as the first “polyamorous family” in Colombia, where same-sex marriages were legalized last year.

> [@](#):
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> He said he and his two partners, sports instructor John Alejandro Rodriguez and journalist Manuel Jose Bermudez, signed legal papers with a solicitor in the city of Medellin, establishing them as a family unit with inheritance rights.

This legal status is apparently called “trieja”, according to a French article, but I couldn’t find more infos about it.

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**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\
**Post date:** [June 30, 2017, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-polyamorous-marriage-in-colombia/790218/2 "2017-06-30T18:39:49Z")

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What I find [in Spanish](http://www.eltiempo.com/colombia/medellin/primer-matrimonio-entre-tres-hombres-en-colombia-98108) is confusing. On one hand, the articles speak of inheritance law and indicates they have made paperwork making them a three-sided tontine; on the other, the Colombian article indicates that “while polygamy is illegal in Colombia, polyamorous unions are legal as of last month” (which smells to me of the same language-dancing as “legal unions”). The Colombian article also points out that they used to be four: the fourth died recently and the three survivors have been able to obtain their shared widowhood pension.

I expect that Colombia already had the shared widowhood pension process for the case of a man and multiple women, as well as the possibility of making a tontine will. This appears to be an extension of both, but which other rights are included in these “polyamorous unions” is not spelled out in the article.