Is It Illegal to Open Your Spouse's Mail in Maine?

This weekend, I finally went through a stack of mail I had been meaning to get to. My wife was in the other room when I came across mail with her name on it.

Naturally, I asked her if I could open it, and she replied, "It's you, of course you can!"

But this made me wonder, would it be illegal to open my wife's mail without her permission?

You live at the same address and you are married to each other, so why not?

By now, I am pretty sure we all know that opening anyone else's mail is a federal crime. But what about opening your spouse's mail?

According to Maine State Legislature,

A resident shall not be allowed to have access to another resident's mail without that resident's permission.

In Maine, opening someone else's mail without permission is a federal crime, even if you are married. This is declared by USPS regulations and Title 18 of the United States Code, Section 1702.

However, the only way you'd likely get "caught" or face trouble is if your spouse gets upset about you opening their mail, and can prove that you did it without their permission.

And get this. According to Gov Regs, you could even go to jail for up to six months for disobeying this law. Wow.

At the end of the day, follow the law and be careful, because mail is a big deal.