Legal Question in Family Law in California
Mistress and Wife
I am in an open relationship, having both a wife and a mistress. Both know about the other, and we are all in agreement, as my wife also has a paramour.
What legal steps should my wife and I take to protect ourselves from unwanted legal entanglements with our other relationships, and to document our agreement on these matters? Thanks
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Mistress and Wife
Sounds like you are having lots of fun, for now. There is no way to get around certain types of legal entanglements. For example, if you get the OW pregnant, you are going to owe child support. Also, any future dispute may be colored by the fact that CA (like most states) has a law against bigamy which is defined as cohabiting with someone to whom you are not married. While recent Supreme Court decisions call the constitutionality of such laws into question, should things go south you may have to deal with a crazed prosecuting attorney, depending on how socially conservative your area of California is. This also includes the possibility that a disgruntled other might threaten to blow the whistle. The permutations of all the possible disputes that could possibly arise is beyond the scope of what I can handle within this answer and might include property disputes (OW claims you agreed to support her / divide property with her) to custody fights (your wife gets pregnant by him, do you have custody and does he owe support). You might want to look up the infamous palimony case of Marvin v. Marvin. Good luck, I think.