Legal Question in Administrative Law in California

Re: valid marriage

Here's the answer to your law school exam question about what is called "trigamy."

It's legally impossible to be married to more than one spouse at a time. Only the first marriage is valid. The first divorce is valid, since he was married to her. The second divorce is ineffective, since he was never legally married to her, nor she to him. As to the third purported "wife," the purported marriage is invalid from the get-go and remains invalid until death do them part. A divorce from a spouse, or the death of that spouse, does not validate a subsequent invalid, bigamous marriage.

The couple would be, however, free to marry, and validly so, after the first (valid) marriage is dissolved by divorce -- but not before. Again, the "divorce" from the second spouse is legally meaningless.

I hope this is clear.