What is bigamy under PC § 25.01?
Texas Penal Code § 25.01 makes it a felony for a legally married person to marry, purport to marry, or live with another person "under the appearance of being married" while a prior marriage is still in force. A separate branch reaches the unmarried partner who knows the other is already married. It is a third-degree felony at baseline, escalating with a minor.
Bigamy is not just being married to two people on paper. Penal Code § 25.01 reaches a married person who goes through a second marriage ceremony, claims to be married to a new partner, or simply lives with a new partner "under the appearance of being married." That last phrase is the one that surprises clients. You can be charged without ever signing a second marriage license — cohabiting and holding yourselves out as husband and wife is enough if you already have a living, undivorced spouse.
The Court of Criminal Appeals laid out the full statute in Arteaga v. State, 521 S.W.3d 329 (Tex. Crim. App. 2017). The offense is committed if a person "is legally married" and "purports to marry or does marry a person other than his spouse… under circumstances that would, but for the actor's prior marriage, constitute a marriage; or… lives with a person other than his spouse… under the appearance of being married." Id. at 333. A separate branch, subsection (a)(2), reaches the unmarried partner who knows the other person is already married and marries or lives with them anyway. So both people in the relationship can face exposure, not just the one with the prior spouse.
The statute defines "under the appearance of being married" as "holding out that the parties are married with cohabitation and an intent to be married by either party." Arteaga, 521 S.W.3d at 333. In plain terms, prosecutors look for three signals: living together, telling the world you are spouses, and at least one of you intending the relationship to be a marriage. None of those alone is the crime — the existing valid marriage is what turns ordinary cohabitation into a felony.
What must the State prove?
To convict under § 25.01(a)(1), the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt a valid prior marriage that had not ended, plus a second marriage, claimed marriage, or marital cohabitation "under the appearance of being married," plus identity and venue. A filed-but-not-finalized divorce does not end the first marriage.
To convict under § 25.01(a)(1), the prosecutor has to prove each of the following beyond a reasonable doubt:
- A valid prior marriage existed
- The defendant was legally married at the time of the conduct. This can be a ceremonial marriage or a valid Texas informal (common-law) marriage. If the first "marriage" was never legally valid, the predicate fails.
- That marriage had not ended
- The prior marriage was still in force — not terminated by a final divorce decree, annulment, or the death of the first spouse. A divorce that was merely filed does not count.
- A second marriage, claimed marriage, or marital cohabitation
- The defendant married, purported to marry, or lived with a different person "under the appearance of being married" as the statute defines that phrase.
- Identity and venue
- The defendant is the person who did it, and the conduct happened in the county where the case is filed. Bigamy is a felony, so it is prosecuted in district court.
One quiet but important point: Texas family law presumes that the most recent marriage is valid until someone proves a prior marriage existed and was never dissolved. See Tex. Fam. Code § 1.102. In a criminal case the burden is on the State, and that presumption can cut in a defendant's favor — the prosecution has to affirmatively establish the earlier marriage and rule out that it ended, not simply assert it.
Penalties and the grade ladder
The penalty turns entirely on whether a minor was involved: a third-degree felony for an adult-only offense (2–10 years), a second-degree felony if the person involved is 17 (2–20 years), and a first-degree felony if that person is 16 or younger (5–99 years or life). The fine cap is $10,000 at every level.
The penalty turns entirely on whether a minor was involved. The statute fixes a felony floor and then steps up the grade for younger partners.
| Situation | Classification | Confinement | Max fine |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard offense (adult) | Third-degree felony | 2–10 years | $10,000 |
| Person involved is 17 | Second-degree felony | 2–20 years | $10,000 |
| Person involved is 16 or younger | First-degree felony | 5–99 years or life | $10,000 |
The Arteaga court quoted these grades directly: the offense is a third-degree felony "except that if… the person whom the actor marries or purports to marry or with whom the actor lives under the appearance of being married is… 17 years of age, the offense is a felony of the second degree; or… 16 years of age or younger, the offense is a felony of the first degree." 521 S.W.3d at 333 (quoting Tex. Penal Code § 25.01(e)). When a minor is involved, bigamy frequently arrives alongside sexual-assault charges, and § 25.01 facts can also be used to elevate a sexual assault from a second-degree to a first-degree felony under Penal Code § 22.011(f). Arteaga held that to use that enhancement, the State must actually "prove facts constituting bigamy under… 22.011(f)" — not just point to a void-marriage rule in the Family Code. Id. at 332. That holding matters: it is a real, litigable limit on how the State stacks charges in these cases.
What defenses work against a bigamy charge?
Bigamy is unusually defensible because so much turns on documents and dates. The core levers are a reasonable belief the prior marriage was over, proof that no valid prior marriage existed, no "appearance of being married," identity and timeline challenges, and procedural and constitutional defenses.
Bigamy is unusually defensible for a felony, because so much of it turns on documents and dates that can be checked. We build the defense around the specific weak link in the State's proof.
Reasonable belief the prior marriage was over
Section 25.01(a)(2) itself recognizes that a person may reasonably believe the prior marriage was dissolved by death, divorce, or annulment. Texas courts have applied a related mistake-of-fact defense in bigamy prosecutions for over a century — classically where a defendant "reasonably believed that his first wife was dead before he married his second wife." Celis v. State, No. PD-1584-11 (Tex. Crim. App. May 15, 2013) (Cochran, J., concurring) (cataloguing historical applications of the mistake-of-fact defense). The modern rule, under Penal Code § 8.02, is that an honest mistake that negates the required culpability can exculpate, but a mistake about a surrounding circumstance "must be reasonable." Celis, slip op. (Cochran, J., concurring). The practical lesson is that belief is not enough; the belief has to be objectively reasonable, which is why we gather every document and communication that made the client think the first marriage had ended.
No valid prior marriage
If the so-called first marriage was never legally valid, the entire charge collapses. This comes up with foreign ceremonies that were never finalized, marriages that were themselves void, or a claimed common-law marriage that never satisfied all three elements (agreement, cohabitation, holding out). Because the most-recent marriage is presumed valid, the State carries the burden to prove the earlier one existed and continued — and that burden is not always easy to meet.
No "appearance of being married"
For the cohabitation branch, the State must show holding-out plus cohabitation plus intent to be married. Two people who lived together but never told anyone they were spouses, kept finances and names separate, and did not present as a married couple may simply not fit the statute. We test the State's "holding out" evidence hard, because casual cohabitation is not the crime.
No intent / wrong person
Like any offense, bigamy requires the State to prove the defendant is the person who committed it and acted with the required mental state. Identity, the timeline of the decree, and who actually held themselves out as married are all live issues we examine.
Procedural and constitutional defenses
Suppression of unlawfully obtained statements, defects in how the marriages were proven up, charging-document problems, and limitations issues all apply. We also scrutinize whether the prosecution is leaning on a Family Code "void marriage" theory where Arteaga requires proof of actual bigamy facts.
Common-law marriage and immigration
Two wrinkles make Texas bigamy cases trickier than the statute looks. A valid common-law marriage can supply the "legally married" element without a license — or, disproven, defeat the charge. And a bigamy charge can carry immigration consequences far beyond the criminal courtroom.
Two wrinkles make Texas bigamy cases trickier than the statute looks, and both can work for or against a defendant depending on the facts.
Common-law marriage. Texas is one of the few states that still recognizes informal marriage. Under Family Code § 2.401, an informal marriage exists when a couple agrees to be married, lives together in Texas as spouses, and holds out to others that they are married. The trap is that someone can be in a valid common-law marriage without realizing it — and a later ceremony with a new partner then becomes bigamy. The flip side is a defense: if the State is relying on a common-law "first marriage," and we can show the couple never actually agreed to be married or never held out as spouses, there was no valid prior marriage to violate.
Immigration. A bigamous marriage is not valid for immigration purposes, and a bigamy charge can ripple into admissibility, naturalization, and the good-moral-character analysis far beyond the criminal courtroom. These consequences can be more lasting than the criminal sentence itself. If you are not a U.S. citizen, the criminal case has to be handled in coordination with a qualified immigration attorney before any plea is entered — the wrong disposition can create immigration problems that a different, equally available outcome would have avoided. Nothing on this page is immigration advice; it is a flag that this is a place where the two systems collide.
Dismissal, reduction, and expunction
A bigamy case can be dismissed when the State cannot prove a valid, continuing prior marriage, when the reasonable-belief defense holds, or when the cohabitation evidence falls short. A dismissal or acquittal can support an expunction under Chapter 55A; a felony conviction generally cannot be sealed, which makes pre-conviction work decisive.
Yes, in the right case. Outright dismissal happens when the State cannot prove a valid, continuing prior marriage, when the reasonable-belief defense holds up, or when the cohabitation evidence does not amount to "appearance of being married." Reductions and negotiated dispositions are also possible, especially in adult-only cases with no fraud, where mutual consent and the absence of any minor change how a prosecutor weighs the file.
On record clearing: if a bigamy case ends in dismissal or acquittal, you may be eligible for an expunction under Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 55A, which erases the arrest from your record. A bigamy conviction, like most Texas felony convictions, generally cannot be sealed or expunged — which is exactly why the pre-conviction phase is where the case is won or lost. Getting in front of the charge early, before an indictment hardens the State's theory, is the single biggest lever a defendant has.
How DFW counties handle these cases
Bigamy is a felony, so it is filed in district court in the county where the conduct occurred. We defend these cases across Collin, Dallas, Denton, and Tarrant counties from our Frisco office. In every one, the case rises or falls on the same documents: the first marriage record, the divorce decree and its date, and the proof of a second marriage or marital cohabitation.
Bigamy is a felony, so the case is filed in a district court in the county where the conduct occurred. We defend these cases across North Texas from our Frisco office. A few practical observations on the counties we appear in most:
- Collin County — felony cases are handled at the Collin County Courthouse in McKinney through the district courts and the district attorney's office. Collin tends to run a structured grand-jury and pretrial schedule, which gives the defense defined windows to present documentation before an indictment.
- Dallas County — felony matters are heard at the Frank Crowley Courts Building. Dallas has a large felony docket and active diversion and pretrial-intervention infrastructure that can matter in adult-only, low-aggravation cases.
- Denton County — felonies run through the Denton County Courts Building and district courts in Denton. Documentary proof of decree dates and marriage validity tends to be decisive here as everywhere.
- Tarrant County — felony cases are prosecuted out of the Tim Curry Criminal Justice Center in Fort Worth.
The firm has one office — 5899 Preston Rd, Suite 101, Frisco, TX 75034 — and we travel to the county where your case sits. No two prosecutors' offices charge bigamy identically, but in every one of them the case rises or falls on the same documents: the first marriage record, the divorce decree (and its date), and whatever evidence the State claims shows a second marriage or marital cohabitation.
What the process looks like
A Texas bigamy case follows the felony track — magistrate and bond, grand jury, indictment, pretrial settings, then dismissal, plea, or trial. Because the dispute often reduces to records and dates, the early window is unusually valuable: producing a final decree, annulment, or death certificate can end a case before it reaches a jury.
A Texas bigamy case follows the felony track. After an arrest, you are taken before a magistrate, bond is set, and bond conditions may be imposed. The case is then presented to a grand jury, which decides whether to return an indictment. From there the matter moves through pretrial settings, where most of the real work happens — gathering marriage and divorce records, challenging the State's proof of a valid prior marriage, and litigating any suppression issues — before it resolves by dismissal, plea, or trial.
The wrinkle specific to bigamy is that the entire dispute often reduces to records and dates. That makes the early window unusually valuable: producing a final divorce decree, an annulment, or a death certificate — or showing the claimed common-law marriage never met all three elements — can end a case before it ever reaches a jury. The worst thing a person can do is try to "explain" the timeline to investigators without counsel. Let your lawyer marshal the documents.
Hypothetical: A client believed his Mexico divorce was final and remarried in Plano. Investigators later claimed the foreign decree was never properly entered. Whether a bigamy charge survives here depends on two things a defense lawyer can develop — the actual status of the foreign decree, and whether the client's belief that it was final was objectively reasonable under § 8.02. This is a hypothetical for illustration only and does not describe any real client or predict any outcome.
When to retain counsel
Retain counsel at the moment of arrest or summons — before any statement to investigators and before the grand jury hardens the State's theory. In a case that turns on records and dates, getting documents in front of a prosecutor early is the single biggest lever a defendant has.
The right time to retain counsel in a bigamy case is at the moment of arrest or summons — before any custodial interview, before the first court appearance, and before any attempt to "explain the timeline" to investigators. Because bigamy reduces so cleanly to documents and dates, early retention lets the defense do the one thing that most often ends these cases: marshal the first marriage record, the divorce decree and its date, an annulment, or a death certificate — or develop proof that a claimed common-law "first marriage" never met all three elements — and put that proof in front of the prosecutor before an indictment hardens the State's theory.
L and L Law Group represents clients facing § 25.01 bigamy charges across Collin, Dallas, Denton, and Tarrant counties. Co-founding partners Reggie London and Njeri London handle both the criminal-defense and collateral-consequence components of these cases — challenging the State's proof of a valid, continuing prior marriage, developing the reasonable-belief defense under § 8.02, coordinating with a qualified immigration attorney for non-citizen clients before any plea, and pursuing dismissal, reduction, or expunction where the facts allow. Free initial consultations are available; contact the firm at (972) 370-5060 or info@landllawgroup.com to schedule.
