While the Smoot center would prefer the state to raise the legal age for all marriages to 18, it acknowledges that this may “not be immediately feasible in some states.” Instead, the center has worked to help states draft laws that include protections for people under 18, according to a 2017 report titled “Falling Through the Loopholes – How Laws Enable Child Marriage in America Today.” Note: Because state laws change regularly, it`s important to review the laws you`re looking for by doing your own legal research or consulting with a knowledgeable attorney. In California, the applicable law is found in California Family Code Sections 302 and 304 (2019): “An unmarried person under the age of 18 may obtain a marriage certificate upon receipt of a court order authorizing the person or persons to marry in accordance with the requirements described in Section 304.” [11] Historically, Section 56 of the California Civil Code (1872) established 15 as the age at which a woman could marry without her parents` consent. In 1921, the age was raised to 18. [12] A study conducted at the Kent School of Social Work at the University of Louisville examined approximately 11,000 marriages in Kentucky involving at least one minor between 2000 and 2015 and found that age differences are as large as a 13-year-old girl marrying a 33-year-old man and a 15-year-old girl. who marries a 52-year-old man. Pollard said. In 6 states, a 21-year-old cannot marry a person under the age of 18 – Missouri, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada. In 1 state, Florida, a 20-year-old cannot marry someone under the age of 18. In 3 states, Georgia, Tennessee, and Ohio, a 22-year-old cannot marry someone under the age of 18. In Indiana, this is also most often true, although a 21-year-old can marry a 17-year-old.

In addition, an earlier version of the graph incorrectly stated that the minimum age of marriage in New York is 14. It was recently increased to 17. The graph also makes it clear that there are exceptions to the minimum age of marriage for judicially emancipated minors in Texas and Virginia. No one can legally marry in the state of Kentucky without a marriage license. Both parts of the couple must appear before a district official, especially in the county where the woman lives, if she is under 18. Please note that some counties do not accept passports as valid ID, while others may require divorce documents to verify that a person is free to remarry. The following table explains the legal age requirements in Kentucky in more detail. For a marriage to be legally binding in the state of Kentucky, the ceremony must be performed by an authorized minister in the presence of the couple and two adult witnesses. It is also important that each member of the couple declare their formal intention to take themselves as spouses, and that the Minister then declare the married couple so that the marriage can be officially celebrated.

Over the past 15 years, about 200,000 minors have married. Underage marriages in the United States are not permitted except in exceptional circumstances, including the consent of a clerk or judge, the consent of the minor`s parents or guardians, if one of the parties is pregnant or has given birth to a child, or if the minor is emancipated. New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware do not allow underage marriage in exceptional circumstances. The legal age of marriage in Kentucky is 18. Individuals between the ages of 16 and 17 require written consent from a parent or guardian. A minor under the age of 15 may apply to a judge for permission to obtain a marriage certificate only if she is pregnant. Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States and its inhabitants are U.S. citizens. In Puerto Rico, the general age of marriage is 21, as that is the age of majority. The general age of marriage in Puerto Rico is 21 or 18 with parental consent.

[35] In Guam, the general age is 18, but 16-year-olds may marry with the consent of at least one parent or guardian. [36] In American Samoa, the age of marriage has been 18 for both sexes since September 2018. Previously, the age of marriage for women was 14. [37] American Samoa does not allow marriages with minors. In the District of Columbia, the general age is 18, but 16-year-olds may marry with exceptions. [35] In the U.S. Virgin Islands, the age of marriage is 14 for women and 16 for men. [38] In the Northern Mariana Islands, men must be 18 to marry, while women can marry at 16 with parental consent. [39] Senate Bill 48, sponsored by Senator Julie Raque Adams, a Republican from Louisville, would raise the legal age for most marriages in Kentucky to 18. While the public may assume that most underage marriages are between two teenagers, that`s only about 7 percent of those cases in Kentucky, Pollard said.

The rest are teenage girls who marry older men. A bill approved by the Kentucky legislature and sent to the governor`s office would change that. Kentucky S.B. 48 would make it illegal for anyone under the age of 16 to marry. The bill passed the Kentucky House of Representatives on Friday. Most states have a minimum age of marriage for minors with parental consent, which ranges from 12 to 17. However, California and Mississippi do not have a minimum age for minors to marry with parental consent. Massachusetts has the lowest minimum age of marriage with parental consent of 14 for boys and 12 for girls. Now 34 and divorced, Pollard is working with a national advocacy group to promote legislation to raise Kentucky`s legal age of marriage to 18 and add other protections to prevent underage girls from being forced into marriage. In many states (but not Massachusetts),[2] the marriage of a minor automatically emancipates him or increases his or her legal rights beyond the minor`s permission to consent to certain medical treatments. [3] If at least one of the spouses has not reached the general age of marriage, the marriage is considered a minor and may require parental consent and/or judicial approval.

Young people can also marry in “exceptional circumstances”. “People assume that child marriage belongs to past generations,” says Jeanne Smoot, senior counsel at the Tahirih Justice Center. The Virginia-based advocacy group is leading a national campaign to raise the legal age of marriage to 18. The age of marriage in the United States is the age at which a person can marry in the United States as a right or with parental consent or other authorization.