scribner_tm
New Member
After reading the Revised Code of Washington (RCW) regarding bigamy and polygamy, I was left scratching my head on how the state might look at an unlicensed union of two consenting adults, wherein the man was already legally married to a wife.
I have a pretty good pre-paid legal program, so I called an attorney in the state of Washington (specifically, King County) and asked him if the state would prosecute such a case. The attorney essentially said "If you leave Caesar alone...Caesar will leave you alone..." that is, if you seek benefits ($$) or legal status from the state you are asking for trouble, but if you essentially keep to yourself, don't marry an underage bride, or break other obvious state codes, you have nothing to worry about. He did not even know of such a case being prosecuted. He agreed that something like "helpmeet" might be a better title than "wife" due to the overloaded legal baggage attached to the latter.
I have a pretty good pre-paid legal program, so I called an attorney in the state of Washington (specifically, King County) and asked him if the state would prosecute such a case. The attorney essentially said "If you leave Caesar alone...Caesar will leave you alone..." that is, if you seek benefits ($$) or legal status from the state you are asking for trouble, but if you essentially keep to yourself, don't marry an underage bride, or break other obvious state codes, you have nothing to worry about. He did not even know of such a case being prosecuted. He agreed that something like "helpmeet" might be a better title than "wife" due to the overloaded legal baggage attached to the latter.