Common-law polygamy?

Here's an interesting commentary from a reader: "Does the Schiavo case implicitly, or maybe explicitly, acknowledge the validity of polygamy? . . . I saw a lawyer on the news last night going down a laundry list of Terri's decisions and rights, and, to my knowledge, all of this flows from her husband speaking on her behalf. If Mrs. Schiavo II could sue him now for wife-like rights should they separate, the state is honoring polygamy." The state of Florida does not recognize what in some places is still called Common Law Marriage. But a decade or so and two children? What legal status does Michael's live-in almost-wife have, in the eyes of the state? Meanwhile, Kathleen Parker asks another question: "When is a husband not a husband?"


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