What Is the Legal Marriage Age in California

The study, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, found that the vast majority of underage brides across the country were girls married to older men (on average, four years longer). Most were 16 or 17 years old, but more than 9,000 marriages involved children under the age of 16. These included 1,233 children aged 14, 78 aged 13 and five 10-year-olds. While people of all races and backgrounds may be victims of child marriage, the practice appears to more often involve minors from certain cultures, particularly those of Indian and Hispanic descent, Acheson noted. These young people may come from communities where it is acceptable for a girl under the age of 18 to marry. Child marriage has also been reported in some religious communities, such as the Mormon sects of Utah. Growing up, Sara Tasneem dreamed of finishing high school and joining the U.S. Air Force. But those dreams were shattered when, at the age of 15, her father forced her to marry a 28-year-old stranger at a religious ceremony in Los Angeles.

His father was part of a cult, Tasneem said. After the ceremony, Tasneem`s new husband took her to another country and got her pregnant. The wedding was made official in Reno, Nevada when they returned six months later. At the time, her husband only needed a permit signed by his father, Tasneem said. Nevada now prohibits marriages with people under the age of 17, but she thinks the marriage could just as easily have taken place in California because the state does not have a minimum age for marriage. Most states have a minimum age of marriage for minors with parental consent, which ranges from 12 to 17. However, California and Mississippi do not have a minimum age for minors to marry with parental consent. Massachusetts has the lowest minimum age of marriage with parental consent of 14 for boys and 12 for girls. With the agreement of a parent and a judge, it is estimated that a few thousand minors marry in California each year – most often, a younger girl marries an older man. But weak data collection laws mean we don`t know exactly how many minors are marrying, or their age or the age of their spouse.

And campaigners seeking to curb child marriage say the lack of data has helped sink previous efforts to ban the practice in California. Without precise numbers, opponents can simply insist that this is not a real problem. At 54, she holds a master`s degree from Pepperdine University and works in leadership development for a large healthcare company. But she still suffers from physical and psychological trauma from her forced marriage. She also talks about her experiences as an advocate for banning child marriage. «Of all the things I`ve been through in my life, trying to unravel this marriage and protect my child for 18 years is the worst,» she said. «It`s something people don`t realize. It wasn`t just me, it was my child, who had nothing to do with anything other than birth. In California, the applicable law is found in California Family Code Sections 302 and 304 (2019): «An unmarried person under the age of 18 may obtain a marriage certificate upon receipt of a court order authorizing the person or persons to marry in accordance with the requirements described in Section 304.

[11] Historically, Section 56 of the California Civil Code (1872) established 15 as the age at which a woman could marry without her parents` consent. In 1921, the age was raised to 18. [12] Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States, and its inhabitants are U.S. citizens. In Puerto Rico, the general age of marriage is 21, as that is the age of majority. The general age of marriage in Puerto Rico is 21 or 18 with parental consent. [35] In Guam, the general age is 18, but 16-year-olds may marry with the consent of at least one parent or guardian. [36] In American Samoa, the age of marriage has been 18 for both sexes since September 2018. Previously, the age of marriage for women was 14.

[37] American Samoa does not allow marriages with minors. In the District of Columbia, the general age is 18, but 16-year-olds may marry with exceptions. [35] In the U.S. Virgin Islands, the age of marriage is 14 for women and 16 for men. [38] In the Northern Mariana Islands, men must be 18 to marry, while women can marry at 16 with parental consent. [39] A new bill by Rep. Cottie Petrie-Norris, D-Laguna Beach, seeks to address this by requiring more regular, thorough, and public reporting on underage marriages in California. His parents were divorced and his mother lived in Colorado. Tasneem is sure her mother would have called the police if she had known what had happened.

The man, a family friend, was supposed to keep Tyree in the family home in San Pablo, California, as she completed sixth grade, and her parents moved to Texas to start a business. Instead, the man raped her repeatedly and eventually got her pregnant, Tyree said. When they found out, his parents and family friend, presumably knowing they could face legal consequences, convinced Tyree that marriage was the solution.