Editing Polygamy (section)

===United Kingdom===
Bigamy is illegal in the United Kingdom.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/336403/Polygamous-marriage-not-legal-in-UK|title=Polygamous marriage not legal in UK|first=Daily Express|last=reporter|date=31 July 2012|access-date=15 February 2016|archive-date=24 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160224000251/http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/336403/Polygamous-marriage-not-legal-in-UK|url-status=live}}</ref> ''De facto'' polygamy (having multiple partners at the same time) is not a criminal offence, provided the person does not register more than one marriage at the same time. In the UK, adultery is not a criminal offence (it is only a [[ground for divorce]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/divorce/overview|title=Get a divorce – GOV.UK|website=gov.uk|access-date=4 September 2017|archive-date=5 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170905010115/https://www.gov.uk/divorce/overview|url-status=live}}</ref>). In a written answer to the House of Commons, "In Great Britain, polygamy is only recognized as valid in law in circumstances where the marriage ceremony has been performed in a country whose laws permit polygamy and the parties to the marriage were domiciled there at the time. In addition, immigration rules have generally prevented the formation of polygamous households in this country since 1988."<ref>{{cite hansard |jurisdiction=United Kingdom |house=House of Commons |date=20 February 2008 |column=755W |speaker=James Plaskitt}}</ref>

The 2010 UK government decided that Universal Credit (UC), which replaces means-tested benefits and tax credits for working-age people and will not be completely introduced until 2021, will not recognize polygamous marriages. A House of Commons briefing paper states "Treating second and subsequent partners in polygamous relationships as separate claimants could in some situations mean that polygamous households receive more under Universal Credit than they do under the current rules for means-tested benefits and tax credits. This is because, as explained above, the amounts which may be paid in respect of additional spouses are lower than those which generally apply to single claimants." There is currently no official statistics data on cohabiting polygamous couples who have arranged marriage in religious ceremonies.<ref name=UKPOLY>{{cite web |url=http://www.parliament.uk/briefing-papers/sn05051.pdf |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20181113063153/http://www.parliament.uk/briefing-papers/sn05051.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=13 November 2018 |title=House of Commons Library Briefing Paper Number 05051: Polygamy |publisher=[[House of Commons Library]] |date=6 January 2016 }}</ref>