Divorce Solutions

Question #97

My husband and I live in the USA. He is still legally married to me. He left and got married to somebody else in Australia. Can he or I annul the marriage between him and the Australian woman?

There’s no law against someone obtaining a divorce and marrying another person. However, there is a law against marrying one person, and then marrying someone else while the former union is still legally recognized – an act known as bigamy.
Bigamy is an offense in all States and Territories in Australia and using s 360(1) of the Criminal Code 1899 (QLD) (the QLD Act)
CRIMINAL CODE 1899 – SECT 360
360 Bigamy
(1) Any person who—
(a) being married goes through the form of marriage with any other person during the life of his or her wife or husband; or
(b) goes through the form of marriage with any person whom he or she knows to be married;
is guilty of a crime, and is liable to imprisonment for seven years.
(2) It is a defence to a charge of either of the offences defined in this section to prove that at the time of committing the alleged offence the wife or husband of the person already married had been continually absent from him or her for the space of 7 years then last past, unless it is shown that the accused person knew that such wife or husband was living within that time
as an example, a person is guilty of a crime if:
• married and goes through the form of marriage with any other person during the life of his or her wife or husband; or
• a person who goes through the form of marriage with any person whom he or she knows to be married.
Are there any defenses to bigamy?
Both the common law and statute provide for the defense of bigamy if seven years have been absent. So looking to the QLD Act again, s 360(2) makes it a defense against a charge of bigamy if a person proves “…that at the time of committing the alleged offence the wife or husband of the person already married had been continually absent from him or her for the space of 7 years then last past unless it is shown that the accused person knew that such wife or husband was living within that time.”
Another defense is if a person held an honest and reasonable belief that the former marriage is invalid (per Thomas v The King (1937) 59 CLR 279).
The effect of common law divorce
Finkelstein J in James v Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (2002) 118 FCR 493 (FCA) said (at 503 [41]):
“According to the common law (which followed canon law), a marriage could be dissolved either by death or divorce. There were two kinds of divorce, one total and the other partial. A divorce a vinculo matrimonii was one that terminated the marriage relation. It was available in the case of incapacity, such as would render the marriage contract void. The types of incapacity included: already being married; being underage; in the case of a minor; not having the consent of his or her parents or guardians; lack of mental capacity. A divorce a mensa et thoro was one that suspended the marriage relation and modified the duties and obligations between husband and wife. A divorce a mensa et thoro operated as a decree for the perpetual separation of the parties, affecting their personal rights and legal capacities in the same way as a decree of divorce a vinculo matrimonii, except that neither party could marry during the life of the other.”
What are the penalties for bigamy?
Although an offense of bigamy can land a person in jail, perhaps the ultimate punishment as articulated by David Ross QC in Ross On Crime Fifth Edition is arguably the direst punishment of all: “Two mothers-in-law.”
[Answer found in Findlaw]