Teenage Marriage Laws

When a teen decides to marry it is the first step of a very long and difficult process. Many teens are under the impression that marriage is the same at any age but, in reality it is exactly the opposite. With strict laws already in place and new marriage laws coming about it is becoming more difficult for teens to marry every year. This is just another reason why teen marriage appears to be a bad idea.

In the United States all but one state requires teens to be at least 18 to marry without parental permission. Even if a teen is pregnant, which is why most teens marry, they need permission from a court. In the case of teens who are 16 or under they need both parental permission and permission from a court. This makes it very difficult for younger teens to marry because it is unlikely that both a parent and court would approve of their decision.

Some states are more strict than the others. For example, in Illinois if a teen is 16 or 17 years of age, they will have to provide a copy of their birth certificate along with another form of identification to show their date of birth in order to obtain a marriage license; in addition to a verbal consent from their parent to marry in front of the judge in court. The guardian will need to show identification and guardianship papers as well. If a teen is under the age of 16 they are not allowed to marry in the state if Illinois at all.

Another exception is the state of Nebraska which sets the marriage age at 19. Also, the states of Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, and Oklahoma allow teens who have already had a child to marry without parental consent.

Teen marriage laws have an effect on the behaviors of teens and teens who want to marry bad enough are always finding ways around these laws. For example, some young people marry outside their state of residence, in states with laws that are not as strict and some teens even write an age other than their own on their marriage certificate.


However, teenage marriage laws are in most cases a successful attempt at preventing teens from making a huge mistake.