Bigamy, with regards to family and divorce law, is the practice of having multiple wives, in most cases wives are applicable, but multiple husbands may also apply. Though most states have criminal sanctions against this practice, rarely are these situations enforceable, as the laws only allow marriage between two spouses. Therefore, the polygamous or bigamy style relationships with the second and proceeding wives are technically only informal arrangements. In these cases, children fathered by a husband to a second or third wife are typically deemed the children of a single-mother. Each state has specific laws dealing with the resolution of polygamy cases, especially regarding payment of child support and other dependent-related considerations.