Kissing Cousins: The States Where Marrying Your Relative Is Legal (2024)

FAQs

Kissing Cousins: The States Where Marrying Your Relative Is Legal? ›

First cousin marriages are permitted in: Alabama, California, Colorado, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, New Mexico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and Vermont.

In the United States, incest is illegal in all 50 states. It is considered a criminal offense and is punishable by fines and imprisonment. Incest is defined as sexual relations or marriage between people who are closely related, such as siblings, parents and children, and cousins.

Some states have separate minimum ages for males and females, with or without parental consent. Massachusetts has the lowest minimum marriage ages with parental consent of 12 for girls and 14 for boys.

States Allowing First Cousin Marriages Without Restrictions: Alabama: Yes it is legal in this state. Alabama Code Title 30. Marital and Domestic Relations.

Yes, it's true. You can marry your first cousin. and sponsor them for an immigrant visa or a green card, but only if you live in certain states. Funny thing is, even though immigration law is federal, state law governs who can marry their first cousins.

Section 13A-13-3 - Incest (a) A person commits incest if he or she marries or engages in sexual intercourse with a person he or she knows to be, either legitimately or illegitimately, any of the following: (1) His or her ancestor or descendant by blood or adoption.

States that allow first-cousin marriages

Alabama, California, Colorado, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, New Mexico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and Vermont.

California law requires a person under 18 years of age to obtain consent from at least one parent or guardian and permission in the form of a court order. Granting permission for a minor to marry or establish a domestic partnership is entirely within the discretion of the court.

5 states set an age floor below age 16: Alaska (14); Hawaii (15); Kansas (15); Maryland (15); and North Carolina (14). not set any age floor by statute, though some (e.g., Massachusetts) may suggest an age floor through case law.

Age requirements: You must be 18 years of age to marry on your own. If you're between 16 and 18, you must have parental consent or a court order granting permission to marry. If you're younger than 16, you must have a court order granting permission to marry.

Can you marry your cousin in Tennessee? ›

In Tennessee, it's legal for cousins to marry. How a new bill would change that. A new bill aims to ban marriages between first cousins in Tennessee. HB 2041/SB 1917, sponsored by Rep.

It is actually legal to marry your first cousin in North Carolina, according to the N.C. Judicial Branch. However, marriages between double first cousins (the children of two sisters who married two brothers) are prohibited, state law says.

It is illegal in Mississippi for first cousins to marry, have sexual relations or cohabitate. However, first cousins once-removed and cousins through adoption are allowed to marry.

In the United States, second cousins are legally allowed to marry in every state. However, marriage between first cousins is legal in only about half of the American states.

No, that is forbidden by statute: KRS 402.010. Degree of relationship that will bar marriage. (1) No marriage shall be contracted between persons who are nearer of kin to each other by consanguinity, whether of the whole or half-blood, than second cousins.

Any party under age 18 must provide written consent from their parents or guardians prior to attaining a marriage license. Siblings, parents and children, grandparents and grandchildren, aunts/uncles and nephews/nieces, and first cousins are not permitted to marry. Same-sex marriages are currently prohibited.

While all political units prohibit marriage between a person and a sibling, an aunt, or an uncle, their prohibitions vary considerably for other degrees of collateral relationship. The uncle-niece marriage is not prohibited in Georgia and among Jews in Rhode Island.

Section 5-26-202 - Incest (a) A person commits incest if the person, being sixteen (16) years of age or older, purports to marry, has sexual intercourse with, or engages in deviate sexual activity with another person sixteen (16) years of age or older whom the actor knows to be: (1) An ancestor or a descendant; (2) A ...

A: Yes. You may perform a marriage ceremony for a person who is related by blood or marriage. The prohibition against notarizing the signature of a spouse, son, daughter, mother, or father does not apply because you are not notarizing the signature of the bride and groom.

Polygamy is illegal in all 50 states, but it has been decriminalized in Utah and the punishment is essentially a traffic ticket everywhere else.