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Article 255 - NY Penal Law

OFFENSES AFFECTING THE MARITAL RELATIONSHIP Section Offense Class 255.00 Unlawfully solemnizing a marriage. A MISD 255.05 Unlawfully issuing a dissolution decree. A MISD 255.10 Unlawfully procuring a marriage license. A MISD 255.15 Bigamy. E FELONY 255.17 Adultery. B MISD 255.20 Unlawfully procuring a marriage license, bigamy,adultery:defense. 255.25 Incest in the third degree. E FELONY 255.26 Incest in the second degree. D FELONY 255.27 Incest in the first degree. B FELONY 255.30 Adultery and incest; corroboration.

S 255.00 Unlawfully solemnizing a marriage. A person is guilty of unlawfully solemnizing a marriage when: 1. Knowing that he is not authorized by the laws of this state to do so, he performs a marriage ceremony or presumes to solemnize a marriage; or 2. Being authorized by the laws of this state to perform marriage ceremonies and to solemnize marriages, he performs a marriage ceremony or solemnizes a marriage knowing that a legal impediment to such marriage exists. Unlawfully solemnizing a marriage is a class A misdemeanor. S 255.05 Unlawfully issuing a dissolution decree. A person is guilty of unlawfully issuing a dissolution decree when, not being a judicial officer authorized to issue decrees of divorce or annulment, he issues a written instrument reciting or certifying that he or some other purportedly but not actually authorized person has issued a valid decree of civil divorce, annulment or other dissolution of a marriage. Unlawfully issuing a dissolution decree is a class A misdemeanor. S 255.10 Unlawfully procuring a marriage license. A person is guilty of unlawfully procuring a marriage license when he procures a license to marry another person at a time when he has a living spouse, or the other person has a living spouse. Unlawfully procuring a marriage license is a class A misdemeanor. S 255.15 Bigamy. A person is guilty of bigamy when he contracts or purports to contract a marriage with another person at a time when he has a living spouse, or the other person has a living spouse. Bigamy is a class E felony. S 255.17 Adultery. A person is guilty of adultery when he engages in sexual intercourse with another person at a time when he has a living spouse, or the other person has a living spouse. Adultery is a class B misdemeanor. S 255.20 Unlawfully procuring a marriage license, bigamy, adultery:defense. In any prosecution for unlawfully procuring a marriage license, bigamy, or adultery, it is an affirmative defense that the defendant acted under a reasonable belief that both he and the other person to the marriage or prospective marriage or to the sexual intercourse, as the case may be, were unmarried. S 255.25 Incest in the third degree. A person is guilty of incest in the third degree when he or she marries or engages in sexual intercourse, oral sexual conduct or anal sexual conduct with a person whom he or she knows to be related to him or her, whether through marriage or not, as an ancestor, descendant, brother or sister of either the whole or the half blood, uncle, aunt, nephew or niece. Incest is a class E felony. S 255.26 Incest in the second degree. A person is guilty of incest in the second degree when he or she commits the crime of rape in the second degree, as defined in section 130.30 of this part, or criminal sexual act in the second degree, as defined in section 130.45 of this part, against a person whom he or she knows to be related to him or her, whether through marriage or not, as an ancestor, descendant, brother or sister of either the whole or the half blood, uncle, aunt, nephew or niece. Incest is a class D felony. S 255.27 Incest in the first degree. A person is guilty of incest in the first degree when he or she commits the crime of rape in the first degree, as defined in subdivision three or four of section 130.35 of this part, or criminal sexual act in the first degree, as defined in subdivision three or four of section 130.50 of this part, against a person whom he or she knows to be related to him or her, whether through marriage or not, as an ancestor, descendant, brother or sister of either the whole or half blood, uncle, aunt, nephew or niece. Incest is a class B felony. S 255.30 Adultery and incest; corroboration. 1. A person shall not be convicted of adultery or of an attempt to commit adultery solely upon the testimony of the other party to the adulterous act or attempted act, unsupported by other evidence tending to establish that the defendant attempted to engage with the other party in sexual intercourse, and that the defendant or the other party had a living spouse at the time of the adulterous act or attempted act. 2. A person shall not be convicted of incest or of an attempt to commit incest solely upon the testimony of the other party unsupported by other evidence tending to establish that the defendant married the other party, or that the defendant was a relative of the other party of a kind specified in section 255.25. Top of Page