Michigan Compiled Laws

Mich. Comp. Laws § 750.439 (2026)

Polygamy; definition; felony.

✓ current as of July 2026

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THE MICHIGAN PENAL CODE

Act 328 of 1931

750.439 Polygamy; definition; felony.

Sec. 439.

Polygamy—Any person who has a former husband or wife living, who shall marry another person, or shall continue to cohabit with such second husband or wife, in this state, he or she shall, except in the cases mentioned herein, be guilty of the crime of polygamy, a felony.

The provisions of this section shall not extend to any person whose husband or wife shall have voluntarily remained beyond the sea, or shall have voluntarily withdrawn from the other and remained absent for the space of five years next preceding such marriage, the party marrying again, not knowing the other to be living within that time, nor to any person who shall have good reason to believe such husband or wife to be dead, nor to any person who has been legally divorced from the bonds of matrimony.

History: 1931, Act 328, Eff. Sept. 18, 1931 ;-- CL 1948, 750.439

FormerLaw Notes:

See sections 4 and 5 of Ch. 158 of R.S. 1846, being CL 1857, §§ 5859 and 5860; CL 1871, §§ 7694 and 7695; How., §§ 9280 and 9281; CL 1897, §§ 11691 and 11692; CL 1915, §§ 15465 and 15466; CL 1929, §§ 16820 and 16821; and Act 91 of 1869.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 5 cases, 1971–2018 · leading case: State v. Green, 2004 UT 76 (Utah 2004).

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State v. Green, 2004 UT 76 (Utah 2004). · cites it 2× “§ 16-6-20 (2003); Idaho Code § 18-1101 (2003); Mich. Comp. Laws Ann. § 750.439 (2003); N.”

Lenawee Cnty. Sheriff v. Police Officers Labor Council, 607 N.W.2d 742 (Mich. Ct. App. 2000). “MCL 750.439; MSA 28.694. Section 9.2 of the rules and regulations provides that “[m] embers shall not knowingly violate any laws of the .”

Sheneman v. Sheneman, 186 N.W.2d 344 (Mich. Ct. App. 1971). · cites it 4× “Nor was the second relationship polygamous (see MCLA § 750.439 [Stat Ann 1954 Rev § 28.694]) or adulterous (see MCLA § 750.”

Pavel Leonte v. Carmen Leonte (Mich. Ct. App. 2018). “3 These marriages would not be valid if the trial court’s entry of the judgment of divorce were not nunc pro tunc, and defendant would be guilty of the felony of bigamy, see MCL 750.439. Therefore, the trial did not abuse its discretion when it entered the divorce judgment nunc…”

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