Airplane Crash

[deseretgov]

So I was watching Cast Away the other day and today a thought occured to me. Yes this is one of those "what if" things.

So we have a faithful LDS couple. They were married and sealed in the temple. Now say the wife was traveling on an airplane, or it could be a boat. Now lets say the airplane/boat crashes/sinks. Many people die but some are missing. Now the husband at home hears of the crash and that his wife is missing. After weeks of searching the search for survivors is called off. The husband remains hopeful either out of real hope or grief. But after a few years he decides it's time to move on. They hold a funeral for his wife and she is officially declared dead. After a few years he meets a nice woman and they get married and sealed in the temple.

Now let's say a few years later a boat in the pacific somehow finds and rescues the wife alive. She comes home to find her husband married again and possibly with children from the second wife.

So my question is, what happens to the marriage/sealing of the first wife? I would also extend this question to the legal side. What happens to their state marriage?

Now I know this is one of those "out there" scenarios but let's not let that stop our discussion.

So here's my ideas. The couple's marriage would no longer be legally married because the wife was officially declared dead. But their sealing would remain intact, since both were faithful to their temple covenants.

So the man would be legally allowed to marry another woman. And since his first wife was declared and presumed to be dead then he could get sealed again. But when it turns out she is really alive suddenly he is sealed to two living women at the same time. Would he then be excommunicated for polygamy? But because of the situation it was not their intention to break the commandments would he have to have the sealing to one of the wives removed? Then the question comes which one? Does he get the sealing removed to his first wife, if so how is that fair to her? Does he get the sealing reomved to the second wife, if so how is that fair to her? And what about the children from each of the two marriages?

Don't worry about how far out this senario is. I want to hear some serious answers.

[pam]

Interesting scenario.

Personally I don't think he would be excommunicated as she was legally declared dead. But good question about what would happen in the rest of the scenario. Will be interesting to see the responses.

[WillowTheWhisp]

Polygamy is illegal, but adultery isn't. Adultery is immoral but polygamy isn't. Presumably the man is no longer legally married to the first wife or is he? Would the law declare his second marriage invalid? If in law he is legally married to the second wife I can't see it being grounds for excommunication.

What is the situation in the US with Muslim immigrants who already have 2 or more wives before they imigrate?Here in the UK they are permitted to stay married.

Perhaps this scenario, which is very rarely likely to happen, would be regarded the same. Of course there is the added dilemma of whether or not the two wives could cope with the existence of each other.

[Guest xforeverxmetalx]

If she was legally declared dead, I suppose that would end the state marriage due to the idea of "till death do we part". And I doubt there would be any excommunication or consequence from the church because obviously he didn't know any better. As far as the sealing, well I don't know. Might end up being the same as it'd be in the afterlife if the first wife had actually died. Who knows.

[gabelpa]

Either way, family life would be really weird when wife#1 came back.

[WmLee]

Ahh!! Willow brings up an interesting point. In UK should a Muslim enter the country with more than one wife he is allowed to remain married to them all! Since the church obeys the law of the land, in lands that allow polygamy can an LDS man do the same? If in UK they allow Muslim’s to practice Polygamy is another allowed the same?

(Please note WmLee does not condone nor is he interested in practicing as he firmly believes one wife is more than enough)

[MarginOfError]

Ahh!! Willow brings up an interesting point. In UK should a Muslim enter the country with more than one wife he is allowed to remain married to them all! Since the church obeys the law of the land, in lands that allow polygamy can an LDS man do the same? If in UK they allow Muslim’s to practice Polygamy is another allowed the same?

(Please note WmLee does not condone nor is he interested in practicing as he firmly believes one wife is more than enough)

No. Polygamous marriages are against the policy of the Church throughout the world regardless of local custom.

[MarginOfError]

I don't know what legal actions would take place in this scenario, but my guess is that the First Presidency would retroactively issue a sealing clearance for the brother to satisfy the administrative issues.

[Guest Alana]

I doubt the sealings would change. He wouldn't be legally married to the first wife, so from a church stand point I doubt any hanky panky would be ok with wife #1. So, living with both shouldn't be an option. Sounds like wife #1, after being stranded for years, thinking fondly of her husband and how wonderful life will be when she gets back, will have to leave her now ex husband behind.

[Wisc]

My thoughts... The Lord would not allow this scenario to even occur unless He had a way for things to work out in the best possible way for all parties involved. ESP if all parties involved were living the commandments and were truly humble servants of the Lord.

[Wingnut]

It was my understanding that it's not a problem for a man to be sealed to two women at the same time, even if they are both alive. If he and his first wife have a civil divorce, but leave temple covenants intact, he can later be sealed again without cancellation.

However, this "what if" scenario (which I can't believe I'm even commenting on, because I'm so sick of all these unlikely preposterous hypothetical situations), there would be more issues to deal with, obviously.

[deseretgov]

It was my understanding that it's not a problem for a man to be sealed to two women at the same time, even if they are both alive. If he and his first wife have a civil divorce, but leave temple covenants intact, he can later be sealed again without cancellation.

Hmm, I haven't heard that before.

(which I can't believe I'm even commenting on, because I'm so sick of all these unlikely preposterous hypothetical situations)

Aw, come on. They're so fun.

[annamaureen]

I don't know what legal actions would take place in this scenario, but my guess is that the First Presidency would retroactively issue a sealing clearance for the brother to satisfy the administrative issues.

That's what I thought, too.

[deseretgov]

What is retroactively issuing a sealing clearance?

[MarginOfError]

The First Presidency may grant sealing clearances or sealing cancellations. A sealing clearance permits a person to be sealed to a spouse without undoing any prior sealings. A sealing cancellation scrubs a prior sealing from the record.

So, suppose a man and woman are sealed and then later divorced. If the man meets another woman and decides he wants to be sealed to her, he requests a sealing clearance from the First Presidency. If granted, the man and his new wife may be sealed, but the sealing to his first wife is not broken, meaning she still has claim on the blessings of that covenant*.

However, if the woman meets a man and wants to be sealed to him, she applies for a sealing cancellation. This would end the sealing to the prior husband and the blessings of the covenant would be lost to the individual. This is not a option the Church likes, but it is necessary because policy dictates that living women may only be sealed to one man.

Given the proposed situation, the man would not be required to receive a sealing clearance after his wife was pronounced dead. When the wife turned up alive, the Church would likely issue the sealing clearance and mark it as effective to some previous date. This resolves the church policy issues. As I said before, I don't know what would need to happen for the legal issues.

* This does not necessarily mean that the first wife and the husband will remain together in the eternities. In fact, most likely they won't. But the sealing is still a personal covenant that is essential for salvation and the First Presidency doesn't normally dissolve a sealing unless absolutely necessary.