Prior to 1971, approximately 80% of states specified an age of 18 for marriage without parental consent for women, and approximately 85% specified an age of 21 for men.
There is little variation over time or across states in the laws without parental consent. There are three sets of laws specifying minimum age requirements for marriage: 1) the minimum age with parental and judicial or court consent, 2) the minimum age with parental consent, and 3) the minimum age without parental consent. There are three sets of marriage ages: 1) general marriage age, 2) the minimum marriage age set by statute and 3) minimum marriage age set by the common law. In the United States, especially in recent years, the general marriage age has been revised downward so that they are now between 18 and 21 years of age. United States Marriage age Įnglish common law applied in each the United States jurisdiction unless and until a state statute replaced or modified it. There was one exception: a man's acts with his wife (females over 12 years), to which rape law did not apply. Since the age of consent applied in all circumstances, not just in physical assaults, the law also made it impossible for a girl under 12 years to consent to sexual activity. To convict a man of rape, both force and lack of consent had to be proven, except in the case of a girl who was under the age of consent. Under English common law the age of consent, as part of the law of rape, was 10 or 12 years and rape was defined as forceful sexual intercourse with a woman against her will. Jurist Sir Matthew Hale stated that both rape laws were valid at the same time. A 1576 law imposed more severe punishments for ravishing a girl for which the age of consent was set at 10 years. The phrase "within age" was interpreted by jurist Sir Edward Coke to mean the age of marriage, which at the time was 12 years. In 1275, in England, as part of the rape law, the Statute of Westminster 1275, it was a misdemeanor to "ravish" a "maiden within age", whether with or without her consent. English common law inherited from England remained in force in the United States unless and until a specific state enacted a law to replace or modify it. Additionally, the Church of England dictated that both the bride and groom must be at least 21 years of age to marry without the consent of their families.
LEGAL AGE OF CONSENT LICENSE
The English Marriage Act 1753 required a marriage to be covered by a license (requiring parental consent for those under 21) or the publication of banns (which parents of those under 21 could forbid). By default, these provisions became the minimum marriage ages in colonial America. The minimum marriage age was 12 years for females and 14 years for males under English civil law until 1753. In many states, a minor's marriage automatically emancipates the minor, or increases their legal rights beyond allowing the minor to consent to certain medical treatments. As of July 2023, five US states do not set any minimum age for marriage. Nine states do not allow a person over 21 to marry an underage person. The minimum underage marriage age, when all mitigating circumstances are taken into account, commonly ranges from 15 to 17. The other states may require the underage partner to obtain either parental consent, judicial authorization, or both, or rely on "exceptional circumstances". Ten states completely ban underage marriage: Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Michigan and Rhode Island. When at least one of the marriage partners is under the general marriage age, the marriage is considered underage. Until 1971, approximately 80% of states had a general marriage age of 18 for women, while for men the general marriage age was 21 in approximately 85% of states. In recent years, the trend has been to adjust the general marriage age downward and to raise the age for women to that of men. The general marriage age is commonly the age of majority, though in Alabama the general marriage age is 18 while the age of majority is 19. The general marriage age (lacking authorization for an exception) is 18 years of age in all states except Nebraska, where the general marriage age is 19, and Mississippi, where the general marriage age is 21. This age is set by each state and territory, either by statute or where the common law applies. The marriage age in the United States is the minimum age at which a person can marry in the United States as a right, or with parental consent or other authorization.
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