Virginia Code
Va. Code Ann. § 20-43 (2026)
Bigamous marriages void without decree
✓ laws through the 2026 session (checked Sept. 2026)
Find cases:
SyfertCases citing this section
VA-LISlaw.lis.virginia.gov
JustiaTitle on Justia
CornellLII Search
CasesGoogle Scholar
All marriages that are prohibited by law on account of either of the parties having a former spouse then living shall be absolutely void, without any decree of divorce or other legal process.
Code 1919, § 5087; 2020, c. 900.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 22
cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1965–2026 · leading case: MacDougall v. Levick, 805 S.E.2d 775 (Va. 2017).
MacDougall v. Levick, 805 S.E.2d 775 (Va. 2017). “Nor do any other statutes require that a marriage in violation of the dissent's view of solemnization be judicially declared void ab initio-a remedy the General Assembly usually makes quite clear when it intends the courts to award it.”
Shoustari v. Zamani, 574 S.E.2d 314 (Va. Ct. App. 2002). “ANALYSIS Zamani was married to another woman at the time he married Shoustari. The parties agreed with the court’s decree that the Zamani/Shoustari marriage was a bigamous marriage and therefore void under the plain language of Code § 20-43.”
Cole v. Commonwealth, 712 S.E.2d 759 (Va. Ct. App. 2011). “”); Code § 20-43 ("Bigamous marriages void without decree.”
Faysal M. Zedan v. Sylvie E. Westheim, 729 S.E.2d 785 (Va. Ct. App. 2012). “Although a bigamous marriage is "absolutely void, without any decree of divorce, or other legal process,” Code § 20-43, a party may seek a judicial decree annulling the marriage on the basis of bigamy.”
Richard S. Levick v. Deborah MacDougall, 782 S.E.2d 182 (Va. Ct. App. 2016). “Code § 20-43 (“All marriages which are prohibited by law on account of either of the parties having a former wife or husband then living shall be absolutely void, without any decree of divorce, or other legal process.”
Kelderhaus v. Kelderhaus, 467 S.E.2d 303 (Va. Ct. App. 1996). “3 See Code § 20-43. Wife, however, argues that this impediment to husband’s remarriage was removed by the subsequent Arizona divorce decree, and, therefore, the ensuing relationship as husband and wife during their passage through Texas and Oklahoma, states which recognize…”
Hager v. Hager, 349 S.E.2d 908 (Va. Ct. App. 1986). “” Code § 20-43. Indeed, persons who engage in such a *417 marriage may be subject to criminal prosecution.”
Annan v. Lynch, 202 F. Supp. 3d 596 (E.D. Va. 2016). “For this reason, USCIS concluded that because Virginia would not recognize the termination of Obeng’s prior marriage, her marriage to plaintiff in Virginia was invalid for immigration purposes.”
Prudential Ins. Co. of Am. v. Tull, 524 F. Supp. 166 (E.D. Va. 1981). “Bigamous marriages are void ab initio under Section 20-43 of the Virginia Code. Thus, Lillian Tull’s putative marriage to Lewis William Grimes, Jr.”
Chitwood v. Prudential Ins., 143 S.E.2d 915 (Va. 1965). “(Code 1950, § 38-7; 1952, c. 317.)” The marriage of plaintiff to Chitwood in South Carolina was void in that State, § 20-6 of the Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1962, and it was also void in Virginia, where the parties cohabited, § 20-43, Code of Virginia.”
Medina v. Medina, 2006-NMCA-042, 131 P.3d 696. “Colorado, however, has a statute mandating that a court shall declare a bigamous marriage invalid from its inception.”
Ali Kahil v. Virginia Dep't of Vital Records, No. 1830234 (Va. Ct. App. Dec. 3, 2024). “The circuit court examined Code § 20-43, which renders “[a]ll marriages that are prohibited by law on account of either of the parties having a former spouse then living .”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.