In 33 U.S. states, a minor can legally marry with a parent’s signature – and in three of those states, no minimum age is specified in law at all. Not as a historical relic, not as a rarely enforced technicality: as an active, functioning feature of state marriage codes in 2026. The same legal system that requires a parent’s signature for a teenager to take a field trip also requires that signature – and only that signature, in many states – to bind that same teenager to a marriage for life.
Underage marriage was legal in all 50 states until Delaware and New Jersey acted in 2018. Since then, 16 additional states have passed bans, with Oklahoma becoming the most recent in May 2026. That leaves 33 states where it remains on the books. Delaware and New Jersey were followed by American Samoa and the U.S. Virgin Islands in 2019, Pennsylvania and Minnesota in 2020, Rhode Island and New York in 2021, Massachusetts in 2022, Vermont, Connecticut, and Michigan in 2023, Washington, Virginia, and New Hampshire in 2024, Washington D.C., Maine, Oregon, and Missouri in 2025, and finally Oklahoma in May 2026.
What the remaining 33 states allow varies considerably. Some require both parental and judicial consent. Some require only parental consent. Some set 16 as the floor. Some set 17. A few set no floor at all, leaving everything to the discretion of a single judge. The distinctions between these frameworks matter in practice, and the 33 states listed below cover the full range. Here is every one of them.
1. Alabama
As of May 2026, Equality Now documents that three states have no statutory minimum age for marriage. Unchained At Last has tracked the legislative history of these laws across the country and estimates that nearly 315,000 children were married in the U.S. between 2000 and 2018. Newsweek confirmed the full list of 33 remaining states following Oklahoma’s ban. Details on individual state frameworks – including pregnancy exceptions and the barriers minors face in leaving these marriages – come from LegalClarity.
The current legal minimum age to marry in Alabama is 16. Parental consent is required for anyone under 18, and no judicial review is built into the standard process in the way other states mandate it. Alabama is also notable for having taken a step backward: in 2019, it updated its marriage statutes but preserved the parental consent pathway for 16- and 17-year-olds rather than eliminating it.
No legislation to ban underage marriage in Alabama has advanced in recent sessions. Advocates have introduced reform measures over the years without success, and the state remains one where a teenager can be legally married before they are old enough to vote.
2. Alaska
Anyone 16 or older is legally allowed to marry in Alaska under HB 62, passed in 2022. That bill was a reform – it raised the age from a lower threshold – but stopped well short of a full ban. This leaves 16- and 17-year-olds in a state with no pending legislation that would close that gap.
Alaska’s geography and sparse regulatory infrastructure make enforcement of even existing protections more difficult than in densely populated states. The 2022 update moved the law forward without resolving the core issue.
3. Arizona
Arizona’s legal minimum marriage age is 16. In 2025, Representative Lorena Austin introduced HB2528 to end all marriages before 18 without exception. The bill is pending in the house. Arizona also allows emancipated minors to marry regardless of age, adding another pathway that advocates say courts rarely scrutinize with sufficient care.
4. Arkansas
Arkansas sets 17 as its general minimum with parental consent, but the state specifically allows pregnancy to lower that threshold further – a provision with a grim and well-documented history. It has been used to compel girls who became pregnant through assault to marry their abusers, legally erasing the criminal liability of the perpetrator in the process. Reform bills have been introduced in Arkansas but have not passed; the pregnancy exception in particular has survived repeated legislative challenges.
5. California
California is perhaps the most surprising entry on this list, given its general reputation for progressive policy. There is no statutory minimum age for marriage in California. A judge must approve any marriage involving a minor, but no age floor exists below which approval cannot be granted. In practice, a judge’s discretion is the only barrier – and discretion is an inconsistent protection.
Efforts to change California law have stalled repeatedly in the legislature, with opponents raising arguments about parental rights and, in some cases, religious practice. The absence of any minimum age makes California one of the most permissive jurisdictions in the country despite its political profile.
6. Colorado
Colorado allows minors who are at least 16 to marry with written parental or guardian permission. Judicial approval is also part of the process in some circumstances, but the baseline remains that a 16-year-old with a willing parent can legally marry.
Reform attempts have occurred in Colorado’s legislature without producing a full ban. The state sits in the larger group of jurisdictions that have modernized parts of their marriage laws without eliminating the under-18 pathway.
7. Florida
Florida sets 17 as its minimum age for marriage with parental consent, but draws particular attention because it is one of the states where these marriages are statistically more common. The Pew Research Center found that underage marriage was most common in West Virginia and Texas, with several other southern states – including Florida, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina – posting above-average rates. Florida passed a 2018 reform that was initially celebrated as a near-ban, but the final bill included exceptions that preserved the possibility of marriage below 18 with appropriate approvals.
Legislative fights in Florida around this issue have been contentious, with some lawmakers framing reform as government overreach into family decisions.
8. Georgia
Georgia allows marriage at 17 with parental consent and, in some circumstances, judicial approval. The emancipation exception pathway is also available: like Texas, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Virginia, Georgia sets 18 as the marriage age but allows minors who have been legally emancipated by a court to marry without the court evaluating the intended marriage itself. The practical effect is that a minor who can persuade a court they are sufficiently self-sufficient can then marry without any additional review of the relationship.
9. Hawaii
Hawaii permits marriage at 16 with parental and judicial consent. Despite passing progressive family legislation in other areas, it has not enacted a full ban on marriages involving minors. Reform efforts have been introduced but have not cleared both chambers of the legislature.
10. Idaho
Idaho allows minors who are at least 16 to marry with written parental or guardian permission. The state gained unfortunate notoriety through documented cases involving significant age gaps: in 2010, a 65-year-old man legally married a 17-year-old girl in Idaho. That case became a reference point for advocates arguing that parental consent requirements do not, by themselves, constitute an adequate safeguard.
11. Illinois
Illinois sets 16 as its minimum marriage age with parental consent. In 2025, HB1744 – which would end all marriages before 18 – was introduced but is missing statutes needed to complete a full ban. The legislative gap leaves the bill’s path forward uncertain.
12. Indiana
Indiana permits marriage at 17 with parental and judicial consent, and also follows the emancipation exception model. The dual consent requirement is sometimes presented as a sufficient safeguard, but advocates counter that judicial review of these petitions is rarely adversarial and almost never results in denial.
13. Iowa
Iowa allows minors who are at least 16 to marry with written parental or guardian permission. The state has seen limited legislative activity around reform compared to some of its neighbors, and no ban bill has advanced significantly in recent sessions.
14. Kansas
Kansas allows 15-year-olds to marry if a judge determines it is in the child’s best interest, and 16- and 17-year-olds can marry with parental and/or judicial consent. Kansas is therefore one of the states where a marriage below the age of 16 remains legally possible. The “best interest” standard, while well-intentioned in theory, has historically been interpreted broadly enough to provide little real protection in practice.
15. Kentucky
Kentucky sets 17 as a minimum with parental consent and follows the emancipation exception model as well. Reform legislation has been introduced in Kentucky but has faced resistance, particularly from lawmakers who argue that parents – not the state – should determine what is appropriate for their children.
16. Louisiana
Louisiana maintains 16 as the lowest age at which any marriage can occur, requiring parental consent and, in many cases, judicial approval. Louisiana is part of the larger southern bloc of states where the rate of underage marriages has historically been above the national average and where legislative reform has moved slowly.
17. Maryland
Maryland raised its minimum marriage age from 15 to 17 in 2022 via HB 83/SB 29, but retained an outdated pregnancy exception for 17-year-olds. The bill represented the seventh attempt to end underage marriage in Maryland – all previous attempts had died in the legislature. The pregnancy exception mirrors the kind of provision that has been used in other states to marry assault survivors to their attackers.
18. Mississippi
Mississippi sets different minimum ages based on gender: males must be at least 17 and females at least 15 to marry with parental consent. A judge can waive even those minimums if the parents agree and the court finds “sufficient reasons.” The gender differential is an artifact of older legal frameworks that treated boys and girls differently in the context of marriage readiness – and it remains in statute.
19. Montana
Montana allows minors who are at least 16 to marry with written parental or guardian permission. Reform legislation has been introduced in recent sessions but has not moved to a final vote. The state’s rural character and the political composition of its legislature have made comprehensive reform difficult to advance.
20. Nebraska
Nebraska requires 19 as the standard age to marry without parental consent – higher than the 18-year threshold used by most states – yet still permits younger minors to marry with parental approval. The 17-year-old minimum applies when parents consent, placing Nebraska on this list despite that higher independent threshold.
21. Nevada
Nevada has a minimum marriage age of 17, with parental consent available for 16- and 17-year-olds. Las Vegas’s reputation as a marriage destination has historically drawn attention to Nevada’s marriage statutes, though tourist-industry marriages are almost exclusively between adults. The practical concern for advocates is the same as elsewhere: parental consent without consistent judicial review creates gaps.
22. New Mexico
There is no statutory minimum age for marriage in New Mexico, making it one of three states with no age floor in law. As in California, a judge must approve marriages involving minors – but with no minimum age specified in statute, the discretion left to individual judges is, in effect, unlimited. Reform efforts in New Mexico have not yet produced a ban.
23. North Carolina
North Carolina maintains 16 as the lowest age at which any marriage can occur, with parental consent required. Research on teen marriages consistently finds higher rates of divorce, educational disruption, and economic instability for those who marry before 18 – patterns that hold regardless of geography or income level – and North Carolina appears in national data as one of the states with a higher incidence of documented underage marriages.
24. North Dakota
North Dakota allows minors who are at least 16 to marry with written parental or guardian permission. The legislature has considered reform measures but has not enacted a prohibition on marriages involving minors.
25. Ohio
Ohio follows the emancipation exception model, setting 18 as the marriage age but allowing an exception for minors who have been legally emancipated by a court. The theoretical structure is that a court first determines the minor is self-sufficient – but critics note that the emancipation proceeding is entirely separate from any evaluation of the intended marriage, and the two questions are not connected in statute.
26. South Carolina
South Carolina sets 16 as its minimum marriage age. SB25, a bill to end all marriages before 18, is currently awaiting action in the Senate Judiciary Committee. That the bill exists and has reached committee is progress; that it has stalled there reflects the legislative dynamics that have slowed reform across much of the South.
27. South Dakota
South Dakota’s minimum marriage age is 16. The legislature narrowly rejected a ban on underage marriage in 2025, which means advocates came close and will almost certainly bring another attempt in a future session. A narrow defeat is both evidence of progress and a reminder of how fragile that progress can be.
28. Tennessee
Tennessee permits marriage at 17 with parental consent. The state has some of the most extreme historical cases in American documented records. Three 10-year-old girls in Tennessee married men ages 24, 25, and 31, respectively, and an 11-year-old boy legally married a 27-year-old woman there in 2006. Those cases pre-date more recent statutory changes and occurred under older, more permissive frameworks – but they appear in the record because they were legal at the time.
29. Texas
Texas sets a general minimum of 18 but preserves the emancipation exception. A Texas court grants emancipation based on demonstrated maturity but does not evaluate the intended marriage or the intended spouse. A minor can be declared legally independent based on their own capacity and then immediately use that status to marry someone a court has never assessed – with no additional review of the relationship required.
30. Utah
Utah allows minors who are at least 16 to marry with written parental or guardian permission. Utah’s history with plural marriage and certain religious community structures has made this a particularly charged legislative issue, with some communities actively opposing reform on religious liberty grounds. The state has tightened procedural requirements without eliminating the pathway entirely.
31. West Virginia
West Virginia’s statute includes several layers: the minor must be at least 16, both the minor and a parent or guardian must provide written consent, and the intended spouse cannot be more than four years older. The age-gap requirement is more specific than most states’ laws and is sometimes cited as a model for partial reform. Advocates argue, however, that any marriage before 18 carries the same fundamental risks regardless of the spouse’s age, and that procedural requirements do not resolve the underlying power imbalances inherent in these situations.
32. Wisconsin
A group of Democratic lawmakers in Wisconsin has introduced legislation to end underage marriage in all instances – ensuring that only those 18 or older may marry in the state, with no exceptions. Until that legislation passes, Wisconsin remains permissive of marriages at 16 with parental consent. The effort reflects a pattern visible across many of these 33 states: bills introduced, advocates organized, and opposition sufficient to keep the issue unresolved.
33. Wyoming
Wyoming requires both parental consent and approval from a judge of a court of record before a clerk can issue a marriage license to a 16- or 17-year-old. The dual-consent model places Wyoming among the states with more procedural requirements than average – but the floor remains 16, and the judicial sign-off requirement has not translated into documented judicial denials in any consistent pattern. Like the age-gap provision in West Virginia, the procedural hurdle is real but not the same as a prohibition.
The Legal Trap Nobody Warns About
One detail that gets lost when these laws are discussed is what happens after the marriage. A minor who is married faces a web of legal barriers that make it extraordinarily difficult to leave. Married minors generally cannot file for divorce on their own. Under most states’ laws, minors cannot initiate legal proceedings without acting through a guardian or representative – the same position their spouse or their spouse’s family may occupy. The system that was permissive enough to let them in has no easy door out.
In most states, underage marriage has historically been treated as a valid defense to statutory rape, meaning a marriage license has functioned as a retroactive shield against criminal prosecution. The Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2022 addressed this at the federal level for certain offenses, but the marital defense remains in place under state law in many of the 33 states on this list. A federal Child Marriage Prevention Bill was introduced to Congress in August 2024 and referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee, where it has remained without further action.
Read More: Outrage as kids aged eight and 13 ‘marry and move in together’ with parents’ blessing
Where This Stands
Nearly 315,000 children as young as 10 were married in the U.S. between 2000 and 2018 – the year the first bans finally began passing. The vast majority were girls married to adult men. Progress since then has been real but uneven, and political resistance to full bans has come from both sides of the aisle: conservatives framing it as a parental rights issue, and some progressive-leaning states like California stalling on reform for reasons that advocates have never found entirely satisfying.
What the 33-state map makes clear is that child marriage laws vary by state in ways most Americans don’t realize and wouldn’t necessarily be able to locate on a map. The patchwork is not an accident. It is the result of decades of inertia, specific legislative defeats, and arguments about family autonomy that have consistently won out over documented evidence of harm to the young people inside these marriages. The number on this list will almost certainly be smaller by this time next year. Whether it ever reaches zero is a genuinely open question – and one that, for now, depends on whether the next handful of stalled bills in committee find the votes they’ve been falling just short of.
AI Disclaimer: This article was created with the assistance of AI tools and reviewed by a human editor.