A Michigan woman has been sentenced to 15 days in county jail after pleading guilty to polygamy charges.

According to authorities, Lorri L. Freesland, 43, wasn’t divorce from her first husband, whom she married in 2000, when she married her second husband in 2007. Her first husband moved to Alaska in 2006. There wasn’t any information available regarding Freesland’s efforts to divorce her first husband, or whether or not she knew she was still married.

In addition to the jail sentence, Freesland will also have to serve one year probation. The Huron County judge who sentenced her also gave her six months to resolve her marital status.

It’s interesting that Freesland was charged with polygamy, as most states charge people with bigamy, which is also the crime of being to two or more people at the same time, but the spouses are unware of each other. In polygamous relationships the spouses are usually aware of each other.

Although this article is really about the criminal aspect of polygamy, an interesting question to oneself in a family law context is, “can people commit polygamy or bigamy without even knowing it?” What if someone who filed for divorce thought their divorce was finalized, only to realize later it never was? What if that person ended up getting remarried? Would that make them a polygamist or a bigamist? We don’t think so.

If you are filing for divorce, an experienced Jacksonville divorce attorney at Ellerin Hutchinson can ensure there are no discrepancies or hang-ups that prevent your divorce from becoming finalized.

Contact Ellerin Hutchinson today at (904) 866-4489!