Marrying someone in California while you are still legally married to another person is bigamy under Penal Code 281, and it can be charged as either a misdemeanor or a felony. A conviction can bring up to a year in county jail, state prison time, or a fine of up to $10,000. The second marriage is void from the moment it takes place, and the consequences can reach into property rights and immigration status.
How the Offense Is Defined
Penal Code 281 makes it illegal to marry or register a domestic partnership with someone while you still have a living spouse or domestic partner.1California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 281 The law treats traditional marriages and registered domestic partnerships the same way. If the prior union has not been legally dissolved through divorce, annulment, or a court judgment declaring it void, entering a new one qualifies.
Prosecutors do not need a marriage certificate to prove the earlier marriage existed. The statute says either marriage can be shown through any admissible evidence, including testimony, photographs, or financial records.1California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 281 When the second marriage took place outside California, proof of that ceremony plus evidence the couple lived together in California afterward is enough to support the charge.
Criminal Penalties
Bigamy is a wobbler, which means prosecutors can file it as a misdemeanor or a felony. Penal Code 283 sets the punishment as a fine of up to $10,000, up to one year in county jail, or time in state prison.2California Legislative Information. California Penal Code Section 283 A misdemeanor conviction caps out at a year in county jail. A felony conviction can bring state prison time and the lasting consequences of any felony record, including background-check problems for employment and housing.
Penalties for the Knowing Third Party
California punishes more than just the already-married spouse. Penal Code 284 applies to anyone who knowingly and willfully marries or enters a domestic partnership with a person they know is already married. That offense carries a fine of at least $5,000 or state prison time.3California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 284 The word “knowingly” is central. Someone who genuinely did not know their new spouse was still married is not covered by this statute.
What Happens to the Second Marriage
Under Family Code 2201, a bigamous marriage is void from the start. It has no legal standing and never did.4California Legislative Information. California Code FAM 2201 The second spouse has no automatic right to community property, spousal support, or the other legal protections marriage normally provides. Property acquired during the void marriage is not automatically treated as community property, even when both spouses contributed.
Protection for a Good-Faith Second Spouse
An innocent second spouse is not necessarily left with nothing. Under Family Code 2251, when a court determines that a marriage is void and finds that one or both parties genuinely believed it was valid, the court must declare the good-faith party a putative spouse. That status lets the innocent spouse ask the court to divide property acquired during the void marriage as if it were community property. The law calls it quasi-marital property, and the court can also reserve jurisdiction to handle the division later.5California Legislative Information. California Family Code Section 2251
Good faith is the requirement. Someone who knew or should have known their spouse was already married cannot claim putative spouse status.
Statutory Exceptions
Penal Code 282 identifies two situations in which a person cannot be convicted of bigamy even after remarrying while a prior spouse was still alive.6California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 282
- The former spouse has been absent for five consecutive years and the person did not know they were alive during that time.
- A court has already declared the former marriage void, annulled it, or granted a divorce.
Both exceptions apply equally to registered domestic partnerships. Family Code 2201 mirrors these carve-outs on the civil side: where the former spouse has been absent five years without any known sign of life, or is generally believed to be dead at the time of the new marriage, the later marriage is treated as valid unless and until a court formally declares it void.4California Legislative Information. California Code FAM 2201
Defenses Based on Honest Belief
Even outside the statutory exceptions, a person charged with bigamy can defend on what they actually knew and believed when the second marriage happened.
The most common defense is a genuine, reasonable belief that the first marriage had been legally ended. This comes up more often than people expect. Divorce proceedings are slow and procedurally complex. Someone might think their divorce was finalized when a final judgment was never entered, or they might have received inaccurate information from a lawyer or court clerk. If the accused can show the belief was honest and that a reasonable person in the same position would have reached the same conclusion, this defense can defeat the charge.
A related defense applies when someone reasonably believed their former spouse had died, even if fewer than five years had passed. The strength of these defenses depends on the evidence backing the claimed belief. Vague assertions are not enough. Courts look for concrete grounds: communications from officials, failed attempts to locate the spouse, or news of a disaster.
Immigration Consequences
Bigamy can create serious immigration problems on top of the state criminal case. Under federal law, knowingly entering into a marriage for the purpose of evading immigration laws carries up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, or both.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1325 – Improper Entry by Alien A bigamous marriage entered to obtain immigration benefits falls within that statute.
The consequences go beyond criminal penalties. A bigamous marriage used as the basis for a visa or green card application can lead to denial of the petition, revocation of an existing visa, and removal from the country. Marriage fraud is treated as a ground of inadmissibility, which can permanently bar someone from obtaining a U.S. visa later. Even where immigration fraud was not the intent, discovery that a marriage-based petition rests on a void marriage will unravel the petition.