If my new husband was never divorced is our marriage a fraud?
Full Question:
Answer:
Bigamy is the condition of having two wives or two husbands at the same
time. The second marriage to someone who is already legally married is void
and may be annulled, while there is no effect on the first marriage. A person
who knowingly commits bigamy is guilty of a crime, but it is seldom
prosecuted unless it is part of a fraudulent scheme to get another's property
or some other felony.
A defendant who is charged with the offense of bigamy may defend the
offense on the grounds that he or she reasonably believed that his or her
prior marriage was void or was dissolved by death, divorce, or annulment.
However, the defendant must prove that he or she made a good faith effort
to determine whether the prior marriage was void or was dissolved by
death, divorce, or annulment.
Prosecution of the offense of bigamy may be brought where the bigamous
marriage took place, where the parties to the bigamous marriage are living,
or where any party to the bigamous marriage, who is not charged with the
offense, resides.
§ 18.2-362 of the Code of Virginia.
“If any person, being married, shall, during the life of the husband or wife,
marry another person in this Commonwealth, or if the marriage with such
other person take place out of the Commonwealth, shall thereafter cohabit
with such other person in this Commonwealth, he or she shall be guilty of a
Class 4 felony.”
