Justice Minister Heiko Maas said this week that he wants to bring an end to the practice of tolerating polygamous marriages among immigrants in Germany.
“No one who comes here has the right to place their cultural entrenchment or religious thinking over our laws,” Maas told Bild newspaper.
“Therefore no multiple marriages will be allowed to be recognized in Germany.”
In Germany, marrying another person after you are already married is illegal and punishable by up to three years in prison.
However, immigrants who arrive in Germany after already marrying multiple people in their home countries may be tolerated by legal authorities in practice, depending on what's best for the family, according to the Süddeutsche Zeitung.
If a husband dies, for example, courts may decide to divide the man’s pension between his wives, the newspaper wrote. [The Local] Read more
