I wanna know why the women can't have several "husbands" just as the men can have several wives? Also, this is a religion. I don't believe in it,however,we are not suppose to judge. I do agree these women are adults and know what they are getting into. It's just interesting to see how much the women are willing to sacrifice to help each other with their children and running their household. I think there are times when mothers need more help than they are getting,but I wouldn't want to share my husband with anyone,not for any amount of help in the world. I do have to wonder if the girls in the family will have self-esteem issues from all of this...growing up believing that no one woman can satisify one man is a very hard pill to swallow and should not ever be the case.

While I find the practice of polygamy demoralizing to women, the real crime lies in the fact that most of these "plural" families receive welfare and/or some type of financial assistance from the state government to assist in the care of their huge families. In the polygamist town of Colorado City, they live in "unfinished" houses to avoid paying property taxes. Another aspect of polygamy that goes unnoticed are the hundreds of young men that are thrown out of the communities around the ages of 15-19. Can't have them around to compete for all the young women who will be married off to the existing "deacons" of the church. Look it up!!

I lived in Utah for fifteen years and found polyamy pretty common throughout most of the outline citys. These groups have no relations with the actual LDS religion and keep mostly to themselves. The local governments tolerate them being there as long as they do not cause any trouble. Once they make themselves puplicly known the the law cracks down on them. The problem here is that this family choose to go public and now the local law will take action. if they would of stayed to themselves and stayed quiet they would not be in this mess.

Some states, such as Texas, make it illegal to live with a person other than your spouse under the appearance of being married. This law is meant to pick up bigamists like those on Sister Wives that only have one legal marriage but hold out that all of the wives are in fact married to Kody.

Having lived in Utah for more than 15 years very close to a large "plyg" community, I know the drain on the welfare and other public assistance programs is huge. The problem with an underage girl being forced into a marriage she has no decision in is my biggest problem with this lifestyle but the religion they believe in is the only reason I can see that would make any of the girls stay with it. I'm no expert on Utah or federal law on this subject but if there is one legal marriage and the rest of the "wives" lived in separate houses, would this skirt the law of plural marriage? It would be about the same as being married to one woman and basically cheating with a number of others. I have met happy families that live this lifestyle and have also met people that weren't so happy also. I think you would have to know what the religious goals were to try to understand why anyone would put themselves in a situation like this. As for the plural marriage part from many years back, this was done, I believe, to help repopulate the earth with disease and war and other things taking men out of the ratio but when the feds outlawed it, thats when Utah and the Latter Day Saints changed their rules. I doubt there will be much of a legal fallout for this family but if there isn't something done to set an example it may open the door to many more of these families coming out into the open. I doubt Utah or the feds want it being widespread in the public eye. I could really see a crackdown, especially in an election year just to give the political parties a chance to fight about something new. We'll see.

My background is a father who obeyed the law, divorced each of his wives (I counted 9, I think he lost count), abandoned each family and the children he helped create, and moved on to the next. What I call "serial monagamy". Except for the child support issues, his abandonment and its related mental and emotional devastation for all of the other participants were completely legal.

Interesting that divorcing a wife, abandoning children and marrying another is legal and accepted, while keeping more than one wife and loving the wives and raising the children as a family (as shown in the show) is not legal or accepted. Can you spell hypocrite?

I disagree that the families should have government support. If the family is not self supporting, the plural wives should not happen, period. Otherwise, this family has less disfunction than most of those I see regularly.

as vickie said, there not doing anything wrong, i don't know why this is dragging out so baldly because cody had aready said it in one of the shows i think he might keep saying it, HE is only married to One wife not more then one, just the one so..he doesn't follow under the law so he isn't a criminal or doing anything against the law, for those of you wondering if he can be prosecuted or not..i just looked up the laws to find out or not and i got it first try, here is the website but here is what it says on the website,

Bigamy

Van Wagner & Wood, S.C., Wisconsin Criminal Defense Lawyers

A bigamist is a person who is married to more than one person at one time or married to a person who is married to more than one person at one time. In other words, if either spouse was previously married to another person from whom a divorce was not obtained, both parties commit the crime of bigamy.

Bigamy is illegal under Wisconsin law (WI Stat 944.05), whether the marriage occurs in the state of Wisconsin or outside of the state of Wisconsin. A second marriage is invalid in Wisconsin if a prior marriage has not been dissolved. Bigamy is a Class I felony.

Please note that the attorneys at Van Wagner & Wood cannot help people whose spouses are suspected of bigamy, nor can they give anyone advice on the matter of a spouse who is alleged to be in a bigamous relationship.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Why Is Bigamy A Crime?

Bigamy is a crime under the law of every state in the United States, with the exception of Utah, and then it is only legal if all of the parties to the marriage reside in the state of Utah. If any party to the marriage moves out of the state of Utah and becomes a resident of another state, then they must follow the laws of the state into which they move and become a legal resident. A person can only have one legal residency. In that situation, if any of the spouses to that marriage moved to Wiscosnin and became a legal resident of the state of Wisconsin, then the laws of Wisconsin would apply to the marital arrangement. If you are in that type of situation, then you should consult with a family law attorney regarding the legalities of family and child support. If you are accused of bigamy, then please contact the attorneys at Van Wagner & Wood for a free consultation regarding your situation. This website does not nor does it intend to provide legal advice.

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see he is only marryed to one wife..so he and the other women can't be charged...its impossable and againisted the law to try to do so...it didn't take me one min even to find this out..so why on earth is this dragging out and being helt over there heads like this?, i don't get it.., and also this law in its self i have discovered is also in its self is againisted the law, i know this because my father and mother was never legaly marryed, they was just commen law marryed and had been together since a few months befor i was born, this made things hard to give my mother what my father wanted her to have because saddly she was a stay at home housewife so she didn't have any bills in her name, But because he stated in his will time and time agian that he was calling her his wife, he used her full name and called her his wife, this made her legaly his wife because he saw her as his wife..or so the attorney told us anyway, but i learned alot from him, if the guy your commen law marryed with is calling you his wife, and you both have bills in your name or something to prove you have lived together this long...then you are legaly marryed so he told me, So...there law states more then one person can not be legaly marryed at the same time..but by there own laws..anyone who shares the bills and or just is being consirdered and called wife by there husband or husband by there wife and has lived together long enough to be commen law marryed..should be legaly marryed..so..far as i can tell, there is nothing that states that it has to be just one person..inseed of two..so that being the case..LEGALY..they should ALL be marryed...and it shouldn't be againisted the law..so looking at it that way..there Bigamy law...is void...to charge someone with this law would be againisted there own laws.. or so as i understand it.

seriously!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! where is your head at????? to have sex with your wife's sisters' and have children by all of them...that is just disgusting..................loving family?????? i am appalled at your ignorance.....

they are not really sisters u tard...try google next time

I am appalled at YOUR ignorance. He is not having sex with his wife's sisters. He is "married" to three (four) women who are not related to each other EXCEPT by their children. It is really no different than any other man who has multiple children by multiple women (which is not illegal), the children are all half brothers & sisters. These women are all just crazy enough to live together in one house. And my hat goes off to them for being strong enough mentally to get past the green-eyed monster that is Jealousy.

On a separate note, unless they applied for a marriage license with each additional marriage, he is not LEGALLY (or illegally) married to the other women. The additional unions are recognized as being "sealed" within their religion. As vickie-850113 said, it isn't illegal to have roommates!!

They aren't sister's and he's only legally married to the first one. None of the women are forced! I know many swingers and open marraiges. It seems to be more the norm ariound here lately. The women aren't even with each other just him!

First of all larryw47 is right there are NOT blood related! Secondly, IF he is only legally "married" to the first wife and they aren't hurting anyone then what's the problem. IF he lied on an application for marriage or if he was forcing them into marriage then it would be different. However, I don't believe that's the case. I have watched to show and I can tell you that I may not agree with the lifestyle choice, meaning it's not for me, BUT they do seem to have a great relationship. IT takes a village to raise a family, they aren't hurting anyone. Leave them be!

I don't think they're exactly healthy and happy; have you watched the show? The women are wearing thinly veiled masks of happiness, but it's easy to see their underlying pain as they watch Kody drive off to meet Robyn, especially from the second two wives. The message to these wives is clear: you're not enough for me. Every human has a natural instinct for intimacy, and that urge is left unfulfilled when you share your partner. Yes, they chose this lifestyle. Many of us settle because we feel it's our best option, but it doesn't mean it's an option that brings happiness.

Well let me help you understand some things they don't mention or touch on..just like other life styles they only want to show you the up side. thee are some downsides and sociatale impacts they don't want you to know about.

My parents live in a small town next to Hurricane, Utah. Utah tries to crack down on these poly groups becuase they have found that they cause other legal and sociatal problems. Because the first marrage is the only legaly recognized marrage the other wives are "co-habitating" to skirt legalities.

Now if these families were truly self sufficiant it wouldn't be a huge problem other than the age thing that goes on and the arranged marrages. But many of these guys aren't rich or even what would be called middle class. So you can imagine with 2 or more wives..and most of them not believing in any birth control other than the rhythm method how many children can get accrued? (btw I'm 1 of 11 sibs..so I DO know about large families and the problems :)). Since they are not rich how do they pay for health care..food...housing...all the expenses of life! Well the other wives, since they are "single" get on to all the public assistance they can...I.E food stamps..school lunch programs...WIC...etc. This is a drain on ANY county or state..even more so if there is a colony of them! So in essance if they are in your area YOU are paying for them to live that life...if they were in a traditional family they wouldn't be streched so thin on resources and be able to provide without public drain.

There is a large group of them in Arizona just outside the Utah border that drive Utah nuts because they can't go after them in Arizona, but they all come over ea week to use the free health clinic and all the fed mandated programs that drain Utah because they use the 'nearest services" clause on those programs..Utah can't refuse them because its the nearest health care and dentist and shopping etc.

To make the problem worse that colony in arizona goy so entrenched and so high in numbers before they relized what was happening that they had enough registered voters etc. to vote their own sheriff and county reps (who themselves are polygmists.) So when the state tries to enforce any laws etc. they have a heads up and the few times the state tried to really crack down on them they just got gone for a while lol.

Then there is the other familal problems....so a guy got 2+ wives...population being as it is there are 51%ish females to males ratio in the US. so if every male in a community 18+ had 2+ wives...what happens as the next group of males reaches marrage age? What happens in the polygamist communities is the guys are sort of pushed out. Many of these guys grew up with all the girls in their age group and would ordinarily as nature takes its way fall in love, get married..have kids..picket fence and all.

But in many of these polygamy groups the females have "arranged" marrages..they are promised to some male or other of influence and even if they are a first wife (rarely) and a "legal" one at 18+ you have to remember that they have been raised in this small town that is insular..they don't know anything else and find it quite normal to have known that this 30+ yr guy was to be their husband since they was 14 yr old.

Now yes, some young men get a traveling itch and want to leave their small town and everyone they have ever known..but some don't..they love their mother and father and siblings. But even if they aren't part of the polygamists groups that expel their males...then they are in a mate scarce enviroment and quite often have to wait around for 20+ yrs to find them a wife.

The muslim faith believes that 4 wives is the ideal amount for a established male to have, in ancient times due to disease, accidents or conflict males were sort of eliminated leaving a excess amount of female to male ratio, but in modern times the disease and accident rate has been lowered and barring war the ratio is once again near even..it causes sociatal pressures for young men to find a wife and there being none available.

This is the aspect when they talk about muslim terrorists they never mention, everyone knows about the silly "die for allah and get 72 virgins in heaven" thing they spout. But why would this even be a concept? Because these young men are "excess males" they need to get rid of..so they put them in medrasas (don't think I spelled that right) to brainwash them at a early age..and as they start to hit puberty and start to have the usual natural urges, they channel them into "martyrs for the faith".

Then there is the other dispicable thing that goes on..they have "mass weddings" they pair 18+ males with as young as 9 yrs old girls in "holy unions" and do it enmasse. Now may of these girls aren't expected to perform "marital duties" at 9..but like the old sick quote "whenit bleeds it breeds" as soon as the girl has her first menstal cycle she goes to the marital bed.

Back to the polygamists here in the US :) do a search on Jeffrey Vics sometime, he was one groups leader....he arranged a wedding for a girl at 14 yrs..because it was to be the guys first and "legal" wife they waited until she was 18 to actually do the deed, when she came back to Vics as her religious leader to tell him that:

A. her husband was abusing her both physically and mentally

B.she was concerned that she had found out that they were cousins!

He told her to go back to him..that is was a wives duty to bare it even if it seemed a burden..and that the union was holy in god's eye even if they was cousins..after all it was a marriage that Vics (as gods spokesman) had arranged.

Well said. I have property near the area that you re talking about and have witnessed first hand some of the problems.

Could not have said it better because you have a closer connectivity to it than I. This is a serious problem, plus after working with the Feds to get Employment statistics these colonies hide their information, truly to evade taxes, assistance they are receiving and the healthcare they get for free. It encumbers all of us. The Kingston Family is one I tried to track down and they have many, many businesses throughout Utah/Arizona that nobody can pin down any information on. I am sure they are masters at working the systems. This Kody is a fool for exploiting his wives and family this way and are opening them up to possible arrests for fraud.

You said everyhting I wanted to say only better and in more detail.

Everybody needs to read this post. Matt, thank you for educating people on this subject. There is so much abuse done to these girls. This family is NOT NOT NOT the norm! Open your eyes to what really goes on people! Do you really think TLC would be able to have a show about what usually goes on in polygamist marriages? It does seem to work for this family to a certain extent. Even though the wives care about each other they've made comments that they get jealous because they don't get as much of his time as they would like and they are hurt by it. Also, when TLC showed the interview of one of the older girls she obviously didn't believe in it and I have to wonder what all of the kids will think as they get older and understand that their lifestyle isn't normal. How much will it actually hurt them in the long run? Do you really think they won't get teased by peers or have a harder time finding a mate that will want to be part of a family like that? I know there is someone out there for everyone, but you can’t deny that this will make it more difficult on them. It's amazing to me that people will watch this and believe that this is how most polygamist families really live… Ignorance. A very small percentage of “sister wives” will be this lucky.

Absolutely agree, unless state money is being used to subsidize this lifestyle ('single' moms w/ 6 children probably can collect a hefty welfare check). As long as I'm/we're not paying for it through our taxes, the children are safe and happy, and the adults are making their own decisions, then let them be.

Okay - so Utah needs to mind their own business, but when Mormons originally practiced polygamy (which is now banned within the official Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints), the Federal government had the right to come in and tell Mormons that polygamy was illegal? Utah is simply enforcing the FEDERAL law that was originally imposed on the Latter-Day Saint pioneers (never mind that there were lots of widows of husbands killed for their religion, widows left with lots of children, women who had physical needs, women who believed that sex was only allowed within a marriage, and women in a population where females very much outnumbered males which could explain the need for plural marriage).

If the FEDERAL law was changed to allow polygamy, then Utah would not be considering prosecuting the case.

Personally, if everyone is a consenting adult, then I don't really care who someone marries, or how many they choose to marry. Unfortunately, Federal law doesn't allow that freedom, and therefore, Utah must enforce those laws. Don't blame Utah, blame the Federal Government. Who knows, maybe a petition can be placed before the Supreme Court that will allow homosexual marriage, and at the same time, plural marriage (whether one male to multiple women/men or one woman to multiple men/women). For that matter, you could have a man married to three women, and two of those women could also be married to eachother. Honestly, why not? Besides, legalizing it could allow men and women to sign the legal documentation saying that they are entering marriage of their own free will, and the government will get their paper tax to issue the licenses.

In summary: If everyone is a consenting adult, then the government should butt out.

It has never been made clear how these folks make their money. I know Kody has a job as does one of the wives. And what about health insurance. You think their jobs are going to pay for all those kids!! Which brings me to another point, are some of the 'moms' getting welfare? Then that would be something for the AG to get involved with. There is no way they are not getting assistance of some kind. Whose dollar is that?

Appears to me Kody is getting restless and needs a younger version so he want out and got one! And excuse me, you would like to have your man sleeping around and bringing home whatever he got from the other wife. There is a health issue here.

Crazy, crazy, crazy....

i agree with you let them be they seem to be happy and the kids seemed to be well adusted some have said they dont want to live same lifesyle as parents when the grow up and the parents are okay with that. this would not be for me but more power to them

Yes, bigamy and plural marriages are against the law but, he is only married to one woman. They haven't broken any laws. So what business how they live would it be to anyone else, including law enforcement.

He hasn't broken the law. He is "legally" married to only one woman.

In Utah (one of 13 states) allows for common law marriage. Per wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common-law_marriage_in_the_United_States#Utah

"For a common-law marriage to be legal and valid in Utah, "a court or administrative order must establish that" the parties: (1) "are of legal age and capable of giving consent"; (2) "are legally capable of entering a solemnized marriage under the provisions of Title 30, Chap. 1 of the Utah Code; (3) "have cohabited"; (4) "mutually assume marital rights, duties, and obligations"; and (5) "hold themselves out as and have acquired a uniform and general reputation as husband and wife" ^[14] In Utah, the fact that two parties are legally incapable of entering into a common law marriage, because they are already married, does not preclude criminal liability for bigamy or polygamy."

They co-habitate, have undergone a religious ceremony, and in the state of Utah, already being married doesn't preclude them from being subject to anti-bigamy laws.

IF THEY HAVE broken the laws of the state of Utah, they should be prosecuted. The DA will need to determine if they have reason to believe they have broken any laws, and if so, they will need to prosecute them. Why have laws in the first place if people just break them without any punishment?

Illegal Aliens are illegal, drugs are illegal, child abuse is illegal, so are lots of other things and I dont see that being as scrutinized....who cares is they all live together??? People do it all the time and don't call it polygamy, they call it cheating or swinging!!

Don't know where you live but all of the things you mentioned are certainly being investigated and prosecuted where I live and it isn't in Utah! So, does calling it 'cheating' or 'swinging' instead of polygamy make it 'okay'?!!

Wow, this is crazy folks posting that it's unfair, it's nobody's business what they do; These people signed-up for a TELEVISION SHOW....inviting all of America into their lives making their life style everybody's business.

If they didn't want the scrutiny, they should've kept their life style private and off cable.

Funny how so many people like to judge the actions of others when they are not hurting anyone. This is a loving family with their own religious beliefs..why care so much about this situation? We have bigger fish to fry people. How about our government? Our current economic situation? Crime rates? Abductions and horrible actions against children? AND THE LIST GOES ON! Isnt this what we should really be discussing and how to change these problems? These are the things that we as a nation should be worried about, not how many people live in the same household.

Plural marriages are illegal. There is only one legal marriage. So as far as I'm concerened there can be no legal charges. They all are happy with their arrangement, so I THINK WE SHOULD LET IT BE. The children are happy and as far as I can tell well taken care of. Let it be.

I'm curious how many people on here who are saying "butt out" to the government in plural marriage are in support of gay marriage. Just wondering...

There is a simple fix to YOUR problem..... you don't like the shows DON'T WATCH THEM!!!!!!!!

Never heard of Jersey Girls ... what is that ? Agree. Don't watch if you don't approve.

prob meant jersey shore... just they like the 2 above said if u dont like the show change the channel or god forbid read a book(if u know how)

Funny how you can roll all those shows names off so perfectly... as if it were because.......................

YOU HAVE WATCHED THEM ?!?!?!?!

I agree babyboomer46--and no, I DON'T watch any of this "reality" trash. Unfortunately the networks put on what people will watch--which is a sad statement on the mentality (and yes, I mean mentality not morality) of people.

I agree! I don't watch any of it either. I tuned in to a couple of them long enough to see what the fuss was about, realized how stupid they are and don't bother with them. It is hilarious that Joaquin Phoenix's new documentary movie, "I'm Still Here", is about these stupid reality shows. It was a hoax from the beginning and the joke is on the public who gets sucked into these shows thinking 'it is reality'. KUDOS! Joaquin.

I do NOT watch any of those reality shows and I can't post the reason without being politically incorrect. Only idiots would be on the reality shows, I will leave it at that.

I don't watch any of these shows either, but it makes me wonder, how I could get my own reality show...I just need to get 'famous' enough to go on Dancing with the Stars...any ideas? I can pitch that I am a average late 20 something who moved to Europe with dreams of travel and romance...and I have a bunch of cats. Come on, if people watch the Jersey shore someone would watch my show, right?! Maybe I need to be drunk or fighting a lot...hmmmm....

agreed they prob had to do an investigation due to complaints for records sake... remember people an investigation can be as simple as talking to the family for 5 minutes and checking a marriage license or the such

jay jay-2462787 - you got it - they work and he is a 'salesman'....hm, I think I know what he is 'selling'!

As far as I can remember 3 of the wives work and so does he.

I agree, I have a feeling the taxpayer supported this before they got the tv show, and will when its done. I don't watch these kind of shows. and people wonder why this country is in trouble.

He is in advertising sales and 2 of his wives work as well. I don't think they are on any kind of government assistance.

Only one of the wives work, that is the second wife and she works like 12 days. The first wife just went back to school, the third wife takes care of the home, and the new addition Robyn (idiot) is not a wife yet, she is a girlfriend. When I first heard about this show, my first thought was when will the police be called. These people are not happy and you can tell they have some deep issue from the first show, the first wife has jealous issues and fertility issues and instead of her and husband dealing with that, he goes and takes another wife. The third wife likes things just the way there are, she like being the last and also has jealous issues.

Let's keep in mind that he didn't have ANY kids with ANY of the women until AFTER he had married the first 3 women. Let's also keep in mind that due to Utah history Pilgamy is against the law. You can't expect to go on National Television and proclaim that you live an illegal lifestyle and not expect to have at the minimum an investigation done. It doesn't matter how happy you are, it is still against the law.

true enough the only place that still goes after adultery is the military and even they sometimes dont actually prosecute... i mean these people havent actually broken a law

I agree with this. How far has the enemy got his hooks in the world if THIS is being shown as anything "good"... ADULTERY is adultery no matter which way you look at it. How can ANYONE support that? Marriage is meant for one man and one woman, nobody can argue with that. It is illegal, this is the same as any polygamy family. None of their extra marriages are legit. This is ridiculous.

riah please explain 1 Timothy 3:2 & 3:12 and Titus 1:6 commanding overseers, deacons and elders to be "a husband of one wife" but does not condemn plural wives for those not in leadership. We must obey the law of the land but considering the Federal government is actually suing Arizona for upholding laws, it's difficult to say plural marriages won't be legal soon. The old testament doesn't reject plural marriages. So, if the law of the land made plural marriages legal, would your view change riah?

BTW, I'm not Mormon.

Just so you know, polygamy is not a mormon belief. Not all mormons have plural marriages. For some reason, many people still believe that all mormons practice polygamy.

No, they just stick their collective noses in other state's business to make sure that gays and lesbians can't marry.

It WAS EXCLUSIVELY a mormon belief, and it wasn't until the turn of the century that the church decided to prohibit it. Becasue it was wrong on so many levels??? Nope. For Utah's statehood..... Not all mormons have plural marriages, but to shows like this (and accepting attitudes like this) are what propogate that belief.

Last I checked polygamy isn't EXCLUSIVELY a mormon belief. The LDS church is Christian and ALL Christians believe in polygamy - I seem to recall that Jacob married multiple women (Let's see, Leah, Rachel, some handmaidens, etc.). And he wasn't the only one. They may not all practice it, but if they believe in the bible, then they must believe that it is right - at least in some instances.

Polygamy wouldn't work in my family - if my husband wanted another wife, I'd divorce him in a heartbeat so he could have the opportunity to get with someone else. But saying polygamy is all a mormon idea is wrong.

They are NOT mormons. Mormons DO NOT BELIEVE IN multiple marriages

They sure did, and it wasn't until statehood was waved in front of them did they finally disavow it. Polygamy was a central teaching of Joseph Smith. Saying that ploygamy is not mormon is like saying turning the other cheek is not christian. It was at the forefront of Smith's agenda

Take an Anthropology class, you would be amazed at what goes on ALL OVER THE WORLD!!

polyandry

Home > Library > Science > Science Dictionary

(pol-ee-an-dree)

A practice in which women have two or more husbands at the same time. A rare form of polygamy, polyandry is practiced by only a few cultures. (Compare monogamy.)

Some forms of polyandry appear to be associated with a perceived need to retain aristocratic titles or agricultural lands within kin groups, and/or because of the frequent absence, for long periods, of a man from the household. In Tibet the practice is particularly popular among the priestly Skye class but also among poor small farmers who can ill afford to divide their small holdings. As to the latter variety, as some males return to the household, others leave for a long time, so that there is usually one husband present.

In Canada, Saskatchewan provincial judicial authorities have "assisted, created and sanctioned" polyandry and polygamy. Justification is based upon property distribution and the recognition that simultaneous multiple conjugal unions are specifically allowed, due to section 51 of their Family Property Act. However, there is no determination in their law that polyandry specifically is allowed, rather the statute content is non genderized.

Not seeing MORMON mentioned there!!!!

Where the heck did you get that information. I happen to live in Saskatchewan Canada and have NEVER heard of a plural marriage here. There is no government sanction of this practise. I, however, don't really care if people want to do it but, don't put out false information. I would also like to comment to the people who are sooo adament about the trashiness of reality shows and the stupidity of those who choose to watch them. I don't see the logic in saying people must be stupid to watch them. What makes watching actors pretending to be in fictional situations so much more intelligent??

So does that go double for two gay men wanting to marry and start a family?

I'm sorry, did you do their taxes? How do you know he claimed head of household? Shouldn't he be able to claim all his childern and his extra live in wives file seperately? Just asking.

I agree here....I'm an accountant myself and I understand what you're saying. But, unless you can say you know for a fact that this is how they are claiming, that shouldn't be an area to be concerned with. It wouldn't benefit them one bit to file all together on 4 people's income. Sorry. I just don't think so.

How in the world could he claim multiple deductions for multiple wifes, have you ever read a tax form, there's no box for number of wifes, there's no way to imput more than one head of household deduction, you are just talking out of your hat.

I wasn't saying that he was, I was saying that this is why they are looking into prosecuting! Duh! They are checking to see if this guy is taking illegal tax breaks! They want to make sure that he is only married to one and is only claiming one. They want to make sure that the other women are not claiming him as their husband since all 4 work. They cannot claim him unless he is legally married to them and he must have full custody of the children in order to claim all of the ones that are technically out of wedlock.

Um, Missy, he would fill out multiple forms....Each wife would fill out a return claiming to be married...

You cannot claim HOH for more than one household. A taxpayer's SS# can only be used once. It would't matter how many people lived in that house, as long as each person/ dependant's SS# was only claimed once. He could claim every single person in that home, as long as he could provide proof that he did support them and they lived with him for the whole year. He could claim HOH and the wives could file as Single. You don't have to be legally married to claim HOH. As long as only one person per household is claiming that.

But I see Accountant's point. The husband could file HOH for he and his legal wife's immediate family, and the other wive's could file HOH for their respective families as well. The IRS wouldn't know they all lived in the same home, because they only look at SS#'s.

So they could benefit from tax breaks they wouldn't legally deserve. And also might qualify for EIC for being single mother's if their income was low enough. That's $1500 a kid. It's in addition to the child tax credit per child.

So yes, they could be skirting the law concerning their taxes. However, if they did anything illegal, the IRS would've caught up with them a long time ago, and they would audit them every year after for at least a couple years.

I don't believe their lifestyle has anything to do with tax breaks or money. It's what they believe in. I'm from Utah, a non-Mormon. Polygamy isn't allowed in the LDS church, it's outlawed. The people who practice it aren't part of the LDS church. They are part of their own separete church. If they are part of the LDS church, then they are in hiding and lying to their church.

Exactly!!!!

Accountant:

BTW, you couldn't file multiple forms with different spouses. That would be the biggest red flag for the IRS, and you'd have to be a moron to try, or to make your point by suggesting it. Obviously you nothing about tax law. Duhh!

Then why are you watching it and commenting on it? If you don't like it, shouldn't you turn off your tv?

Thats the American way, Shelly. Its no different than what you are doing. Ok, you like the show and have no problem with it. Why are you blogging about it? Move on! If you like it and others don't, why are you continuing to respond?

gkoz: They are not from the mainstream Mormon church. One of the wives even said so in the first episode. This group of people branched off from the LDS (Mormon) faith to form their own "version" of religion. The LDS faith does NOT practice polygamy. The family IS THE central theme of Latter Day Saints and they try very hard to show that to the world, but then shows like this come up and things get misunderstood about what faith they are actually practicing.