Remix: daisies
As a non-native Utahn, I have been watching the FLDS drama unfold in Eldorado, Texas with great trepidation, and numerous questions. Recently I observed in the SL Tribune that one of our elected officials does not oppose the idea of legalizing polygamy. I address the following questions primarily to Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, who needs to have a plan if he's going to seriously propose legalization.
This post isn't just about the FLDS dramarama: Muslims also practice polygamy, and probably others would care to give it a go. In principal, I agree with legalizing polygamy. I don't care who someone sleeps with, so long as he or she is an adult capable of giving full consent. At minimum, I would like to see a governmentally recognized contractual relationship between parents that clarifies the responsibility for children that issue from any relationship. When I lived in Texas, the state Attorney General was very diligent about collecting child support from every dead-beat father, married or not. In the end, the state's interest in marriage is about property, not sex, so I have some questions about the mechanics of polygamy.
Assume three women, Abigail, Betty, and Carla. And two men, Daryl and Egbert. Assume that Daryl is a taxpaying, social security contributing member of society. Daryl marries Alison. Polygamy is legalized, and Daryl also marries Betty and later Carla.
1) Who files the taxes? My federal tax forms have only one line for a spouse. Does Daryl divide his income across households? Or does the entire family unit file one tax return?
2) Daryl's employer offers medical insurance to Daryl and his family. Is the employer obliged to offer insurance to all the wives?
3) Daryl dies of natural causes. Do Alison, Betty and Carla each claim a fraction of Daryl's life insurance policy? If he is killed in a plane wreck, can all three women sue the airline? What if one wants to sue and the others want to settle? What Social Security benefits is each woman entitled to: 1/3 of that of a monogamous wife (one taxpayer's contribution divided by number of spouses) or does each wife get a full share, like serial monogamous relationships over the course of a lifetime?
4) Both Abigail and Betty are employed in the workforce. Can Daryl be insured on both wives' medical policies a the same time? Is Abigail's employer obliged to insure Betty's children?
5) After years in the social security contributing workforce, both wives die. Does Daryl collect Social Security for each wife's contribution?
6) After 10 years of marriage, Carla wants a divorce. What's the division of property? Compare to a monogamous marriage with a typical 50/50 settlement. Is Carla entitled to 25% of the marital assets? Do Alison and Betty have any say in the de facto dilution of their property at the time Daryl marries Carla? Or is it a pair-wise relationship, where every wife has a 50/50 stake in the total assets of her relationship with the man?
7) Daryl is on life-support. Abigail and Betty want to pull the plug, Carla does not. Does majority rule?
8) Can Alison, Betty and Carla each direct in their wills the disposition of their proportion of assets to their own minor children?
9) Can Alison sue Daryl or another wife based on the allegation of unequal treatment amongst wives. A wife cannot be forced to testify against a husband, are all wives protected under that protection?
10) Carla's 17-year old son Floyd gets into a car wreck and kills an innocent bystander. The family of the victim sues. Which related adults are named in the law suit as the responsible parties?
10) Carla marries into a polygamous family of Daryl, Abigail and Betty. After a time, Carla enters into her own polygamous marriage with Egbert. (Call this a zigzag family?)
\A /B /C
\D \E
Who owns what and when? How is paternity decided if Carla has a child? Is Daryl's employer obliged to offer insurance benefits to Egbert and his children? Is Daryl's employer obliged to insure Egbert's other wife Gina?
11) How many degrees of freedom exist in the contractual marriage between Carla and Egbert? If Egbert is civilly liable for a financial judgment, that would impact Carla's property rights, but does that responsibility extend to Daryl? To Daryl's other wife Betty? Did Betty have any chance to refuse consent?
My questions only gets more complex from here. I doubt that legally a subsequent spouse can diminish his/her own property rights respective to a first spouse, even voluntarily. And there is a real risk of a spouse entering into a false polygamous union to avoid the legal costs of divorce, despite the wishes of the first spouse. Gay marriage would be simpler to adjudicate than this potential mess. I can't wait until post-election season to hear Schurlteff's answers to these questions and more. And I do not wish to spend a dime of my taxpayer money on legal costs of defending the State of Utah's position in these arguments in federal court.
Comments (4)
Very good questions - I think you need to send this to the Trib or DN... I would love to see Shurtliff's response.
Posted by Kayla | May 29, 2008 11:14 PM
Posted on May 29, 2008 23:14
This post brings up some very interesting questions, not to mention complications that people probably haven't thought about. As an advocate for same-sex marriage I can't be too critical of other's choices as long (like you said) it involves to adult parties who can give consent, but damn. Those situations would be a nightmare to resolve!
Also "Egbert" kinda made me snorf. Heh.
Posted by Pjamms | May 30, 2008 8:19 AM
Posted on May 30, 2008 08:19
Oh dear.
"as long AS (like you said) it involves TWO adult parties who can give consent..."
It's early.
Posted by Pjamms | May 30, 2008 8:20 AM
Posted on May 30, 2008 08:20
Poor Daryl... in addition to the 3 wives, he now has 3 mothers in law to deal with. He would not die of natural causes... he would slice his wrists or eat a gun!
Posted by Jeremy | June 5, 2008 8:04 AM
Posted on June 5, 2008 08:04