Is cheating and living together considered bigamy? In this society, many men cannot resist the temptation of cheating women outside. Many men live with mistresses directly after cheating on them. Let’s find out whether cheating and living together is considered bigamy.
Is cheating and living together considered bigamy? 1. If it is an occasional affair, it cannot be defined as bigamy. If they are shown in public or in the name of husband and wife, it is suspected of bigamy, so pay attention to evidence collection.
The crime of bigamy refers to the act of marrying another person who has a spouse or marrying another person knowing that he or she has a spouse. The so-called spouse refers to a man who has a wife and a woman who has a husband. This relationship between husband and wife still exists without legal procedures, that is, a person who has a spouse; if the relationship between husband and wife has been dissolved, or the relationship between husband and wife has disappeared naturally due to the death of one spouse, the relationship between husband and wife does not exist. Then there are those with spouses.
How can it be considered bigamy? How many years does it take to be convicted of bigamy?
The crime of bigamy refers to the act of marrying another person who has a spouse or marrying another person knowing that he or she has a spouse.
Whoever marries another person who has a spouse, or who marries another person knowing that he or she has a spouse, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than two years or criminal detention. Therefore, extramarital affairs and bigamy must be punished. Even detention is a criminal penalty. It is also against the criminal law to marry someone you know you have a spouse with. In other words, people who are willing to have extramarital affairs may also violate criminal laws and be punished.
Types of bigamy:
1. Registered marriage with a spouse, registered marriage with another person and bigamy, that is, bigamy of two legal marriages. A person who has a spouse registers a marriage with another person, a bigamist deceives the marriage registration office to obtain a marriage certificate, and a bigamist colludes with the registration office staff to obtain a marriage certificate;
2. Register a marriage with the original spouse, but fails to register with another person to obtain a marriage certificate. Living together as husband and wife is a type of de facto marriage after legal marriage;
3. There is no spouse, but the person knows that the other party has a spouse and registers the marriage or cohabits as husband and wife and commits bigamy.
Is cheating and living together considered bigamy? 2 1. Three behaviors can constitute the crime of bigamy.
Deception in marriage is not only condemned by morality, but also resisted by law. Our country's marriage law stipulates that husband and wife should be loyal to each other and respect each other.
Although infidelity is not a legal concept, and the law does not clearly stipulate the direct adverse consequences of violating the duty of loyalty, the law’s negative evaluation of infidelity in marriage is reflected in the subsequent consequences caused by the infidelity. Divorce, property division, custody battles, etc. may even violate the criminal law and constitute the crime of bigamy.
Therefore, there must be no misconception that "cheating only violates morality and does not violate the law." So, under what circumstances can cheating constitute bigamy?
China is a monogamous country. Bigamy is prohibited by law and punishable by criminal means.
According to the provisions of the Criminal Law, a person who has a spouse and commits bigamy, or a person who knowingly marries another person who has a spouse, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than two years or criminal detention. According to this provision, behaviors constituting bigamy in practice can be summarized into three types:
First, the spouse falsely claims to defraud the first marriage registration or colludes with the staff of the marriage registration agency to defraud the registration during the marriage relationship. ';
The second is that a spouse lives with a third party outside the marriage in the name of husband and wife during the marriage relationship, but has not registered the marriage;
The third is that there is no Spouse, but knowingly knowing that the other party has a spouse registers marriage or lives together in the name of husband and wife.
In judicial practice, the first type of bigamy crime is more obvious, but the second type is more worthy of attention because it is difficult to grasp, especially to understand what "living together in the name of husband and wife" means, that is, one spouse and Opposites of the opposite sex live together as husband and wife outside marriage.
In addition to prohibiting bigamy, Article 3 of the Marriage Law also stipulates that spouses are prohibited from living together with others. It can be seen that "a person with a spouse lives with others in the name of husband and wife" in the criminal law and "a person with a spouse lives with others" in the marriage law are not the same concept. The former is a criminal act, and the latter is a general deceptive cohabitation act.
The definition of "a spouse living together with others" in the judicial interpretation of the Marriage Law means that a spouse and a person of the opposite sex outside of marriage do not live together continuously and stably in the name of husband and wife. Accordingly, the key to distinguishing the crime of bigamy from ordinary cohabitation by deception lies in whether the person lives together continuously and stably in the name of husband and wife. If it is only occasional and temporary cohabitation, it does not constitute bigamy, nor does it constitute "bigamy between a spouse and another person".
If you continue to live together stably but do not treat each other as husband and wife, it is not de facto bigamy.
2. Bigamy is invalid, with one exception.
Article 10 of the "Marriage Law" stipulates that bigamous marriages are invalid. An invalid marriage is invalid from the beginning, which means that when it is declared invalid by the court in accordance with the law, it is determined that the marriage was not protected by law from the beginning.
Zhang’s last two marriages should be considered bigamy and invalid from the beginning. The children he had with his last two "wives" were legally illegitimate.
But in one case, the invalidity of bigamy can be prevented. According to the judicial interpretation of the Marriage Law, if a party applies to the court to declare the marriage invalid in accordance with Article 10 of the Marriage Law, if the legally invalid marriage situation has disappeared at the time of application, the court will not support it. That is to say, after the invalid conditions leading to the invalid marriage disappear, the original invalid marriage is prevented and the invalid marriage becomes a valid marriage. For example, a man and a woman registered their marriage in Beijing in xxxx, and a man and a woman registered their marriage in Shanghai in xxxx. From this time on, the marriage between the man and the woman was considered bigamy. Later, the man and the woman divorced in xxxx, at which time the marriage relationship between the two parties was terminated. After divorce, if a party files a lawsuit in court due to bigamy and applies to annul the marriage between a man and a woman, the court may not support it according to the above provisions. Because the previous marriage has been terminated, the reasons for the invalidity of the latter marriage have disappeared, and the latter marriage has become effective. It is generally believed that the validity of the latter marriage should be calculated from the termination of the previous marriage.
So, since bigamy is a crime, how can it become a valid marriage? Does this mean that bigamy is not a crime once the above obstacles are met? This involves the issue of the connection between marriage law and criminal law. Criminal law sets statutes of limitations for crimes. If the statute of limitations has expired for a crime, criminal liability will no longer be pursued. Article 87 of the Criminal Law stipulates that if the statutory maximum penalty is fixed-term imprisonment of less than five years, no prosecution will be pursued after five years. The statutory maximum penalty for the crime of bigamy is two years in prison, so five years after the crime of bigamy ends, criminal liability will no longer be pursued. The end of bigamy here refers to the divorce procedures at the marriage registration office after marriage or the end of cohabitation in the name of husband and wife. Therefore, anyone who commits a crime during the period of bigamy or within five years after the end of the bigamy will be held criminally responsible once the bigamy is concluded. If civil or criminal cases arise due to bigamy, the trial of the civil case shall be suspended and the trial shall be resumed after the conclusion of the criminal proceedings.
3. Pay attention to evidence collection for bigamy.
Bigamy can be prosecuted privately or publicly. When the victim of bigamy has evidence to prove it, he can file a criminal private prosecution in court. When there is insufficient evidence, he can also report the case to the public security organs, which will file a case for investigation and the procuratorate will initiate a public prosecution. In reality, there are a large number of bigamy victims because they are financially dependent on bigamy, or are subject to personal restrictions, threats, domestic violence, etc. , they dare not prosecute themselves or report the case to the public security organs. Insiders, social organizations and relevant units can also complain or report to the public security organs, procuratorates and courts.
Criminal proceedings are based on facts and the law as the criterion. The collection of evidence is crucial to proving the crime. The burden of proof in a private prosecution for the crime of bigamy shall be borne by the private prosecutor. Even if a case is reported to the public security organs for investigation due to insufficient evidence, no one has more direct and easier access to the evidence than the victim. Therefore, once the victim discovers that the other party is likely to have bigamy, he must pay attention to the collection and preservation of first-hand evidence to prevent the other party from destroying the evidence afterwards.
When collecting evidence, you should pay attention to the following points:
First, it can determine the identity of the third party, such as name, appearance, workplace, residence and other information;
Secondly, it can be proved that both parties live together as husband and wife.
You can try to get as many witnesses to testify in court by calling the other person by name in the chat history, jointly obtaining a house purchase or rental contract, making audio and video recordings of their intimate behavior, and visiting neighbors who live in the same residence.
Third, evidence of bigamy or evidence of a third party’s admission of bigamy must be carefully preserved, including voice, video, and text chat records. If there are written materials such as a letter of guarantee, a letter of remorse, or an agreement, try to sign or fingerprint it, which will have stronger proof.
In addition, the following evidence plays an important role in proving bigamy, but the victim cannot obtain it by himself. He needs to obtain it through a lawyer holding certification materials issued by the court or apply for it, including bigamy and third-party marriage registration files. ; The bigamist signs in the name of the spouse for hospitalization and consent to surgery; the real estate certificate and other supporting documents containing the names of the bigamist and the third party.
Is cheating and living together considered bigamy? 3. How long does it take to live together outside marriage?
Long-term cohabitation does not necessarily constitute bigamy. Bigamy is the remarriage of a spouse. That is, you already have a marriage and enter into a second marriage with someone else.
There are two forms:
(1) Statutory bigamy, that is, the previous marriage has not been dissolved, and going through the marriage registration procedures with another person constitutes bigamy. As long as both parties have completed the marriage registration procedures, regardless of whether they live together or not, and whether a wedding is held or not, bigamy has already occurred.
(2) De facto bigamy: that is, the previous marriage has not been dissolved and you live with others in the name of husband and wife (or relationship). Although the marriage was not registered, it actually constituted bigamy. Bigamy is an illegal and criminal act that violates the principle of monogamy in the Civil Code. The marriage legislation of the People's Republic of China has always protected monogamy and prohibited bigamy.
If it constitutes bigamy, you must bear criminal responsibility in accordance with the law.
2. Main types of bigamy
1. After registering the marriage with your spouse, register the marriage with another person and remarry. That is bigamy of two legal marriages. A person who has a spouse registers a marriage with another person, a bigamist deceives the marriage registration office to obtain a marriage certificate, and a bigamist colludes with the registration office staff to obtain a marriage certificate.
2. Those who have registered to be married to their spouse, or those who have not registered to be married to others, will live together as husband and wife and remarry. This is a type of de facto marriage after legal marriage.
3. If the spouse has not registered a marriage with another person, but has lived together as husband and wife successively or at the same time, it is considered bigamy as two de facto marriages.
4. The original spouse did not register and actually lived together as husband and wife * * *, and then registered the marriage with another person and committed bigamy. This is the legal type of marriage after de facto marriage.
5. Those who do not have a spouse, but knowingly know that the other party has a spouse and register a marriage or cohabitation in the name of husband and wife and commit bigamy. Therefore, bigamy is to some extent linked to de facto marriage.
In judicial practice, if one party discovers that the other party is having an extramarital affair, both parties can negotiate for divorce or sue, but the extramarital affair itself does not constitute the crime of bigamy. Our country's law clearly stipulates two situations for determining bigamy. The specific situation must be judged by the court based on the actual illegal facts.