Bigamy in Virginia is a Class 4 felony: marrying a second person while a first spouse is still living can bring two to ten years in prison and a fine of up to $100,000, and the second marriage is treated as void from the moment it takes place.1Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 18.2-362 – Person Marrying When Spouse Is Living; Penalty; Venue2Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 18.2-10 – Punishment for Conviction of Felony; Penalty
What the Law Covers
Any married person who marries someone else while the first spouse is still alive commits bigamy under Virginia Code § 18.2-362. The location of the second ceremony does not matter. If the wedding happens in another state but the couple then lives together in Virginia, the Commonwealth treats the marriage as though it were performed here and applies the same criminal law.1Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 18.2-362 – Person Marrying When Spouse Is Living; Penalty; Venue
A separate statute closes the obvious loophole. Virginia residents who leave the Commonwealth intending to return cannot escape the law by holding the ceremony in a more permissive state.3Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 18.2-363 – Leaving Commonwealth to Evade Law Against Bigamy
Criminal Penalties
Bigamy is a Class 4 felony. A conviction carries a prison sentence of not less than two years and not more than ten, and the court may impose a fine of up to $100,000 either on top of or instead of the prison term.2Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 18.2-10 – Punishment for Conviction of Felony; Penalty
There is no apparent statute of limitations. Virginia Code § 19.2-8 sets time limits for misdemeanors and a short list of specific offenses, but general felonies like bigamy are not on that list. A prosecutor can bring charges years after the second marriage occurred.
Defenses to a Bigamy Charge
Virginia recognizes several circumstances in which a second marriage will not support a conviction, even though the first spouse was alive when it took place:
- The person was legally divorced from the first spouse before the second marriage.
- The first marriage was itself void from the start and therefore never had legal effect.
- The first spouse had been continuously absent for at least seven years, and the person had no knowledge during that time that the spouse was still alive.
- The person entered the second marriage with an honest and reasonable belief that the first spouse had died.
The last two defenses often get confused. The seven-year rule turns on a fixed period of absence and lack of knowledge; it does not require the person to have believed the spouse was dead. The good-faith belief defense can apply regardless of how long the spouse has been gone, but the belief has to be genuinely reasonable under the circumstances.
Why the Second Marriage Is Void
A bigamous marriage in Virginia is automatically void. The statute calls it “absolutely void, without any decree of divorce or other legal process,” which means no court action is required to invalidate it.4Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 20-43 – Bigamous Marriages Void Without Decree For legal purposes, it is treated as though it never happened.
The consequences for an innocent spouse can be severe. A void marriage generally creates no right to spousal support, no right to equitable property division, and no right to inherit from the other party. Someone who married in good faith, unaware of the existing spouse, may find they have no claim to assets built up during the relationship.
Some states soften this with the putative spouse doctrine, which protects the property interests of a person who entered a void marriage believing it was valid. Virginia does not appear to recognize that doctrine under its own law. A Virginia Court of Appeals decision has mentioned the concept only when applying another state’s law, not as a protection Virginia itself provides. An innocent spouse here has fewer remedies than a counterpart in a state like California.
What Happens to the Children
Children born of a bigamous marriage keep full legal status. Virginia law states plainly that children of marriages “prohibited by law, deemed null or void or dissolved by a court shall nevertheless be legitimate.”5Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 20-31.1 – When Marriage Legitimates Children; Issue of Marriages Prohibited by Law, Etc., Legitimate They have the same rights to child support, inheritance, and custody protections as any other child.
Getting a Formal Annulment
Even though a bigamous marriage is void by operation of law, people often want a court decree saying so. A circuit court annulment produces documented proof the marriage was invalid, which matters when applying for a new marriage license, resolving property disputes, updating government records, or sorting out benefits.
Who Can File
Either party can file a suit for annulment in circuit court. At least one party must have been an actual, good-faith resident and domiciliary of Virginia for at least six months before the filing date.6Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 20-97 – Domicile and Residential Requirements for Suits for Annulment, Affirmance, or Divorce
Evidence You Will Need
Virginia will not grant an annulment on the testimony of the parties alone. The law requires corroborating evidence, meaning independent proof that the first marriage was still legally in effect when the second marriage occurred.7Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 20-99 – How Such Suits Instituted and Conducted; Costs A certified copy of the original marriage certificate, public records showing no divorce was ever filed, or testimony from a third-party witness will usually do it. Both spouses agreeing on the facts is not enough. Gather the documents before you file.
Fees and Timing
The clerk’s filing fee is $60, which includes a certified copy of the final decree. If the other party files a counterclaim within the annulment proceeding, no additional filing fee applies.8Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 17.1-275 – Fees Collected by Clerks of Circuit Courts Attorney fees and service-of-process costs are separate and depend on how contested the case becomes.
An uncontested annulment with straightforward evidence can be resolved in a few weeks to a few months, depending on the court’s caseload. Contested cases or those tangled up with property disputes take longer. There is no deadline for filing in a bigamy case. The two-year limitation that applies to certain other annulment grounds does not reach void marriages, because they were never valid to begin with.