Do I Need to Get a Divorce if My Husband is a Bigamist?
Full Question:
Answer:
Marriages in Nebraska are automatically void if one of the parties is already married. However, it may be possible to have a decree of annulment issued if needed. You may remarry and avoid future claims by legally establishing the annulment of the marriage. Undisclosed prior marriage is a basis for an annulment.
Please see the following NE statutes:
42-103 Marriages; when void.
Marriages are void (1) when either party has a husband or wife
living at the time of the marriage, (2) when either party, at the time
of marriage, is mentally incompetent to enter into the marriage
relation, and (3) when the parties are related to each other as parent
and child, grandparent and grandchild, brother and sister of half as
well as whole blood, first cousins when of whole blood, uncle and
niece, and aunt and nephew. This subdivision extends to children and
relatives born out of wedlock as well as those born in wedlock.
28-701 Bigamy; penalty; exception.
(1) If any married person, having a husband or wife living, shall
marry any other person, he shall be deemed guilty of bigamy, unless as
an affirmative defense it appears that at the time of the subsequent
marriage:
(a) The accused reasonably believes that the prior spouse is dead; or
(b) The prior spouse had been continually absent for a period of five
years during which the accused did not know the prior spouse to be
alive; or
(c) The accused reasonably believed that he was legally eligible to
remarry.
(2) Any unmarried person who knowingly marries a person who is married
commits bigamy.
(3) Bigamy is a Class I misdemeanor.