Whether a married man has an illegitimate child or not is not bigamy. The crime of bigamy objectively shows that the actor must have bigamy. That is, a person with a spouse marries another person, or marries another person knowing that he has a spouse, which constitutes bigamy. There are so many cases of illegitimate children, if it is because of one-night stands and other reasons, it cannot constitute bigamy.
First, the concept of illegitimate children
Children born out of wedlock (commonly known as illegitimate children, used in a contemptuous and insulting way) refer to children whose parents are not married during pregnancy or at birth (legal definitions vary from place to place). Because the degree of legal protection for children born in and out of wedlock is different, it is beneficial to distinguish them.
Second, does having an illegitimate child count as bigamy?
According to Article 258 of the Criminal Law of People's Republic of China (PRC), the crime of bigamy refers to the act of marrying others with a spouse or knowing that others have a spouse. The so-called spouse means that a man has a wife and a woman has a husband. This relationship between husband and wife still exists without legal procedures, that is, a person with a spouse; If the relationship between husband and wife has been dissolved, or the relationship between husband and wife naturally disappears due to the death of one of the spouses, it is no longer a spouse.
The so-called marriage knowing that others have a spouse means that although I have no spouse, I know that the other person has a spouse and marry him (including registered marriage or de facto marriage). This kind of behavior is an act of deliberately destroying other people's marriage.
The specific provisions of the Criminal Law stipulate that whoever commits bigamy while having a spouse, or marries someone knowing that they have a spouse, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than two years or criminal detention. Therefore, for extramarital affairs, bigamy must be punished, even if it is criminal detention, it is also a criminal punishment. It is also against the criminal law to marry someone who knows that he has a spouse. In other words, people who are willing to have extramarital affairs may also violate the criminal law and be punished.
Nowadays, the divorce rate is getting higher and higher, and a large part of the reason for divorce is emotional infidelity, which leads to the breakdown of marriage. In the process of divorce, in order to better safeguard their rights and interests, extramarital affairs will be exposed. Is it bigamy if a married man has an illegitimate child? Illegitimate is not a necessary condition to constitute bigamy, so it does not constitute. Consult a professional lawyer specifically.
Extended reading:
The judicial interpretation of marriage law clearly stipulates cohabitation and bigamy.
What is the amount of civil compensation for bigamy and how to compensate for bigamy?
What are the contents of the judicial interpretation of bigamy?