Let’s say that Ed and Jenny run off one day and get married by a justice of the peace, both of them knowing full well that Ed already has a wife in another state that he has been separated from for years but never divorced? Jenny changes her last name, they live as husband and wife, and all is well until they decide they’re sick of each other and want to end their “marriage.” Would seeking an annulment expose Ed, Jenny, or even both of them to criminal charges?
Ed is a bigamist but, as I understand it, Jenny would not be a putative spouse because she knew about marriage #1 at the time of marriage #2. Could she still seek to press charges? Would she even be able to do so since she was not defrauded in any way?
Ed’s a bigamist. Jenny can be charged with being accessory to bigamy, or some such offence. It’s not up to Jenny to “press charges”; when the matter comes to light it’s up to the prosecuting authorities. It may be that they will have a policy of not charging in circumstances where the bigamous spouse was not deceiving his new partner, but equally it may be that they will have no such policy. But fraud (in this sense) is not a necessary element of bigamy; if Ed (or Jenny, or both) is prosecuted, it will be no defence to say that Jenny was not deceived.
The penalty for bigamy is 2 mother in laws. You can not escape that.
Definitely not legal advice, just speculation from a non-attorney.
A bigamous marriage is usually void ab initio rather than nullable, so in theory, they could probably walk away and ignore the null-and-void second marriage certificate, but the world doesn’t work that way practically.
Pure speculation, but a crafty attorney might be able to come up with a way to get a declaration of nullity from a court without requiring either party to confess or make a statement themselves as to their situation, leaving the DA’s office to “prove” knowledge without a declaration against interest. I don’t know if and where it would work. Perhaps one of Ed’s siblings could file a petition for declaration of nullity that states to the effect of “I believe my brother’s marriage is void ab initio. Here are the documents…”
There’s no guarantee that the bigamy will come to light merely because the second relationship has broken down. But where both parties are aware of it, it’s likely that one of them will reckon it’s in his interest to point to the nullity of the marriage, e.g. to resist a claim for maintenance or division of property, or to displace a presumption of paternity, or whatever. Or, of course, one of them may want to marry again, this time legitimately. Continued concealment of the bigamy requires, in effect, a continuing conspiracy between the couple, and since the relationship between them has broken down, it may be optimistic to think that the conspiracy will continue.
There’s a fairly strong presumption that a putative marriage is valid. It would be unusual for a court to declare a marriage null without one, and usually both, of the spouses giving evidence. Unless they are going to add perjury to bigamy, it’s hard to see the story not coming out.
If they simply divorce, instead of seeking an annulment, would that count as perjury? In other words, if there are no children/support/property concerns from the marriage could they just not mention that they know it is invalid while seeking to have it dissolved?
Unless you marry siblings. :eek:
Just to echo everyone above: Under Virginia law, Ed is guilty of a class 4 felony and Jenny, if she knew of his married status and thus conspired to commit bigamy, is guilty of a class 5 felony. Their marriage is considered void, without the need for any decree by a court.
There would thus be no basis for seeking an annulment. If they admit to bigamy, then there is nothing to annul. If they lie and take the position that their marriage was valid, then they would have to seek a divorce. And yes, a petition for divorce probably would require a stipulation that the parties have a valid marriage, which would open them up to perjury charges. Their best bet would be to walk away and move out of that state (i.e., to go live somewhere where that marriage is not recorded, and hope it never comes to light).
Ed is facing 2-10, while Jenny is facing 0-10. Depending upon how ruthless she is, she has some leverage to force him to give her most or all of the “marital” assets, since he’d be in more trouble than she would if she went to the police. And if she can credibly pretend that she didn’t know about his existing marriage, then she’s sitting pretty. Of course, that’s extortion, but in for a dime, in for a dollar.
(This is all just anonymous chat about a hypothetical situation. This is not legal advice, and no attorney-client relationship has been created.)