The youngest age you can get married in the United States depends entirely on the state. A handful of states set no statutory minimum age at all, meaning a judge could theoretically approve a marriage for a child of any age; roughly 16 states and Washington, D.C. require everyone to be 18 with no exceptions; and the rest allow 15-, 16-, or 17-year-olds to marry with parental consent, judicial approval, or both. Marriage license data shows children as young as 10 have been legally married in this country.
States With No Minimum Marriage Age
The most startling category is the group of states whose statutes set no age floor below which a marriage petition is automatically rejected. In those states, a judge can approve a marriage for a child of any age as long as other legal requirements are met.
California is the most well-known example. Its family code requires a court order and at least one parent’s consent for anyone under 18, but contains no minimum age. Several other states operate the same way: the law requires permission, not a specific age.
This is not a theoretical concern. Between 2000 and 2021, an estimated 314,000 minors were legally married in the United States, and while nearly all were 16 or 17, some were as young as 10.
States Where 18 Is the Hard Floor
As of 2025, approximately 16 states plus Washington, D.C. have set the marriage age at 18 with no exceptions whatsoever. The list includes Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia. Maine, Oregon, Missouri, and D.C. all joined in 2025.
Delaware was the first, in 2018, followed by New Jersey the same year and Pennsylvania in 2020. In each of these jurisdictions, no amount of parental consent or judicial approval can authorize a marriage for someone under 18. If you are a minor, you cannot get a marriage license.
States That Allow Minors to Marry
In the remaining states, a minor who meets the state’s floor age can pursue a marriage license through one or both of two pathways: parental consent and judicial approval. About 20 states set that floor at 16, roughly 10 set it at 17, and a couple set it at 15. 1PubMed Central. Child Marriage Laws around the World: Minimum Marriage Age, Legal Exceptions, and Gender Disparities
Parental Consent
Most states that require parental consent need at least one parent or legal guardian to sign off; some require both. If a parent is deceased, absent, or has had parental rights terminated, the minor typically has to supply court documentation showing the other parent has sole custody. The consent usually takes the form of a sworn affidavit signed before a notary or court clerk.
The weakness of this safeguard is that parents are sometimes the ones arranging the marriage. In cases involving forced marriage, pregnancy, or family pressure, a consent form does not protect the minor.
Judicial Approval
Some states require a court order on top of parental consent; others let a judge approve the marriage when a parent refuses. When a judge is involved, the court is supposed to assess whether the marriage serves the minor’s best interest, but the rigor of that review varies. Some courts conduct detailed investigations, examining whether the minor is acting of their own free will, the stability of the relationship, any evidence of domestic violence, educational plans, living arrangements, and whether the minor has children. Other courts treat approval as a formality.
What Marriage Does to a Minor’s Legal Status
Getting married changes a minor’s legal standing in ways that families often don’t think through before filing.
Automatic Emancipation
In most states, marriage automatically emancipates a minor, giving them many of the same legal rights as an adult. An emancipated minor can sign binding contracts, lease an apartment, and open bank accounts without parental involvement. The flip side is that parents are no longer legally obligated to support the minor, which can leave a married teenager without a financial safety net if the marriage falls apart.
Medical Decisions
Married minors generally gain the authority to consent to their own medical, dental, and mental health treatment, and to make healthcare decisions for any children of the marriage.
Financial Aid
For federal financial aid purposes, marriage makes a student independent regardless of age. A married student reports only their own income and their spouse’s on the FAFSA rather than their parents’ income, which can affect aid eligibility. 2Federal Student Aid. Dependency Status
The Harder Part: Getting Out
A married minor who wants to leave the marriage runs into obstacles adults don’t face. Minors generally cannot hire an attorney or file court documents on their own because they lack full legal capacity for litigation. Some domestic violence shelters won’t accept unaccompanied minors. The legal system makes it easier for a child to enter a marriage than to leave one.
What Happens When a Minor Marries in One State and Moves to Another
American law generally treats a marriage valid where it was performed as valid everywhere. A minor who marries legally in a state with a low age floor will typically have that marriage recognized even in a state that now bans child marriage outright.
Two narrow exceptions exist. Some states have marriage-evasion statutes that let them refuse to recognize a marriage if a couple left the state specifically to dodge its age requirements. The public policy doctrine also allows a court to refuse recognition when a marriage deeply offends the state’s fundamental public policy. Whether either applies in a given situation is fact-specific and depends on the states involved.
Annulment of an Underage Marriage
An underage marriage is usually classified as “voidable” rather than “void.” A void marriage is treated as though it never existed. A voidable marriage is legally valid until someone takes action to annul it, and if no one acts, the marriage stands.
The minor, a parent, or a guardian can typically petition for annulment based on the spouse’s age at the time of marriage. The deadline in most states is tied to the minor reaching the age of majority. Once the younger spouse turns 18 and continues living with the other spouse, courts in many states will treat the right to annul as waived. The window to undo the marriage can close permanently once the minor becomes a legal adult and does not immediately act. A teenager who was pressured into marriage often lacks the awareness or resources to file before that deadline passes, leaving divorce as the only remaining exit.
How Often This Still Happens
Between 2000 and 2021, roughly 314,000 minors were legally married in the United States. About 86 percent were girls, and most married adult men who were on average four years older. Nearly all were 16 or 17, but some were as young as 10.
Annual totals have dropped sharply, from about 33,000 in 2001 to roughly 1,700 in 2021. Researchers estimated that at least 66,000 of the marriages during that period involved an age gap or a minor’s age that would constitute a sex crime under the state’s own laws outside the marriage context. In roughly 90 percent of those cases, the marriage effectively shielded the older spouse from statutory rape charges, because many states exempt married couples from age-of-consent laws.