What Are the Laws for Polyamory by State?

It should be known that having multiple relationships is not against the law anywhere in the United States. You can date as many people as you want and no one can do a thing to you - in fact, this is something practiced by people who claim to be monogamous, it's just practiced prior to 'settling down' with 'the one'.

Just because someone does choose to 'settle down' with 'the one' doesn't mean that the parties involved have to stop dating though, as long as both parties are open to this arrangement. That's what Polyamory allows. Polyamory isn't exactly the same as an open relationship, in which both parties are free to have dates or sexual activities with others, but rather, polyamory allows for loving, committed, relationship-relationships with others. If you need more information about what polyamory is, check out this article: Frequently Asked Questions about Polyamory.

As such, the complications of living arrangements come into play - who lives with whom, when, how often, bills, children, etc. And that's where the laws in each state start to differ greatly.

First, it is best if you are not sure of the bigamy laws in your state and you are polyamorous that you find out what they are right away. When you love someone, it's very easy to want to introduce that person as your husband or your wife as the gender may be, but if you are legally married to someone and introduce another person as your spouse, you may be breaking the law in some states. Additionally, if you are not legally married to anyone, but you actually represent more than one person publicly as your spouse, then you can get in a bit trouble there too in some states.

I'm serious - the following states all have laws that make it illegal to be married to more than one person at a time, but also to 'purport to be married' to more than one person at a time - that means, if you are married, you cannot tell people someone else is your spouse too, and if you are not married, you cannot have more than one person you call your spouse in public.

Which states? Well, the following make it a felony: Alaska, Connecticut, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Washington