Sandi

If a Muslim man can have more than one wife, but the wife
stays in Asia, can he remarry here in the US without bigamy
charges brought against him?

Ron

I don't know, but I'd guess the answer is no. A marriage that is legally
recognized in another country is legally recognized in the US, but no US
states allow more than one wife. Don't ask, don't tell? ;-)


"Sandi" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > If a Muslim man can have more than one wife, but the wife
    > stays in Asia, can he remarry here in the US without bigamy
    > charges brought against him?

Folinskyinla

No.

The general rule is that a marriage is considered valid if valid at the place of celebration. So since no US jurisdiction allows plural marraige, the second marriage will not be considered valid. And yes, that would be bigamy.

A side issue -- lets say Mohammad Smith marries Fatima and later Naila in his home country under Islamic law. Both marriages are valid in home country. Mohammad then desires to immigrate, the US will consider Fatima to be the lawful wife and will not allow Niala to immigrate. Lets say that Mohammad wants Naila to come with him and to leave Fatima in the home country -- no luck.

BTW, these issues DO come up and they are not purely an intellectual exercise.

Mikki

Funny - my son and I were just watching something on TV a couple
nights ago about people in Utah who have multiple wives - a religious
group - how do they get away with that if no state allows it? Just
for interest.....

jockgurl

I watched a show on this too an I may be wrong but the impression I got was only the first wife was legally a wife.Its not legal un Utah either i dont think,but a small group practices it anyways but the other wives are not,in the eyes of the law at least,considered wives

Ron

Don't ask, don't tell? From what I've read, many live in remote areas, and
in any case, the local community would have to be sympathetic.


"Mikki" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Funny - my son and I were just watching something on TV a couple
    > nights ago about people in Utah who have multiple wives - a religious
    > group - how do they get away with that if no state allows it? Just
    > for interest.....

Folinskyinla

Hi:

I seem to recall a guy by the name of Green who did this -- and bragged about on it 60 Minutes -- he was prosecuted and convicted.

Caro

Also, I have read that husband gets married to wife#1, then divorces, but wife#1 stays in the household. Then, husband gets married to wife#2, so husband has de facto 2 wifes. And so on...

Caroline

stevelisaw

hmmmm think it makes more sense to have multiple husbands ..than wives. lol!

andrewdean

The Church of Later Days Saints use to allow poligamy, but this was then banned by the church any member who follows such practices will these days be excummincated.
A number of followers then split from the church when thay banned poligamy and started their own sect and continued to practice their beliefs. A large group then moved to the Arizona / Utah border so they could avoid state law enforcement by crossing between the two states.
They are breaking both state and federal law but it is difficult to enforce the law when no one is willing to give evidence or prosecute them.

Sandi

no, he wants to keep wife #1 protected financially, but not in his new US
household.

"Caro" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Also, I have read that husband gets married to wife#1, then divorces,
    > but wife#1 stays in the household. Then, husband gets married to wife#2,
    > so husband has de facto 2 wifes. And so on...
    > Caroline
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

Dekka's Angel

Polygamy is as illegal in Utah as it is in the other 49 states. Making it illegal (as is included in the Utah constitution) was a condition of Utah being admitted into the union at all, given the then-existing practices of the Mormon church allowing polygamy.

Tom Green was convicted of bigamy and of statutory rape since his original wife was 13 years old when he impregnated her. He used the "divorce" technicality to try to defeat the bigamy charge. But Utah statutes provide for common law marriage, so the fact that he was legally divorced from one wife when he married the next wasn't enough as a matter of law to defeat the bigamy charge -- under common law he never was divorced from his first (or subsequent wives) since he was living with all of them.

He's having fun in jail, no doubt. I cannot say I'm crying over that outcome. Despite his wives' belief that somehow they are worse off. Guess its harder to engage in welfare fraud without him (that's what brought all this to light)

Tuts

how about divorce? there's no divorce in my country (philippines). if
somebody married in the philippines, get his/her divorce in a country
that there is divorce, will the US recognize the divorce? thanks in
advance for info you can give...

"Ron" wrote in message news:...
    > I don't know, but I'd guess the answer is no. A marriage that is legally
    > recognized in another country is legally recognized in the US, but no US
    > states allow more than one wife. Don't ask, don't tell? ;-)
    >
    >
    > "Sandi" wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
    > > If a Muslim man can have more than one wife, but the wife
    > > stays in Asia, can he remarry here in the US without bigamy
    > > charges brought against him?
    > >
    > >

ScottHenshaw

Not totaly true about the Philippines. Although divorse is not common, one can get divorced....


Scott

Eoin

THey get away with it til caught and prosecuted. My guess is the police
have bigger fish to fry - violent crime etc.

Mikki wrote:
    > Funny - my son and I were just watching something on TV a couple
    > nights ago about people in Utah who have multiple wives - a religious
    > group - how do they get away with that if no state allows it? Just
    > for interest.....