Legal Definitions - bigamy

Bigamy

Bigamy is when someone gets married to another person while still being legally married to someone else. It means having two spouses at the same time. The second marriage is not valid and can be cancelled, but the first marriage remains legal.

John is married to Jane, but he secretly marries Sarah without divorcing Jane. This is bigamy because John is legally married to two people at the same time.

Another example is when Mary marries Tom, but she doesn't know that Tom is already married to someone else. This is also bigamy because Tom is legally married to two people at the same time.

These examples illustrate how bigamy is the act of being married to more than one person at the same time, which is not allowed by law.