how old do you have to be to get married

How old do you have to be to get married in the U.S. ?

The minimum age to get married legally in the United States:

18 years old

This is a general rule to get legally married, but there are many exceptions that allow non-adults to marry at younger ages in man jurisdictions.

If it is legal in your state: You can marry at 16 or 17 if you have parental consent or approval of a judge, or in some cases both.

For example, the minimum age for marriage in New York was 18. However, the law allowed children ages 16 and 17 to marry with parental approval.

Children aged 14 and 15 could also  marry with permission from a judge and their parents. However this was outlawed in 2017.

The vast majority of states in the U.S. allow legal marriage under the age of 18 under some circumstances.In 27 states in the USA, there isn’t a limit on how young a child can marry, if a judge authorizes the marriage.

For Canada, see this page.

At what age can I get married with parental consent?

Again, this varies by jurisdiction, but generally at 16 years of age or 17 years old if allow in the state you want to marry in. However, there is a trend toward legislation in various states to outlaw youth marriage even with parental consent.

How old do you have to be to get married in these states:

California: California has no minimum age for marriage. However, minors (under the age of 18) must obtain both parental consent and a court order to legally marry.

New York
: 18, but 17 with parental and judicial consent. Not legal under 17 since 2017.

Texas
: 18, but 16 if legally emancipated from parents. (Emancipation is a legal mechanism by which a minor is freed from control by their parents or guardians. Parents or guardians are freed from any and all responsibility toward the child.)

Discover additional state minimum legal marriage ages on this Wikipedia page: click here

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