Bill Text - HB1516 (2020)

Raising the minimum age for marriage.


Revision: March 12, 2020, 7:53 p.m.

HB 1516 - AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE

 

11Mar2020... 1142h

2020 SESSION

20-2424

05/06

 

HOUSE BILL 1516

 

AN ACT raising the minimum age for marriage.

 

SPONSORS: Rep. Levesque, Straf. 4; Rep. Rung, Hills. 21; Rep. Mulligan, Graf. 12; Rep. Wazir, Merr. 17; Rep. Read, Rock. 17; Rep. Adjutant, Graf. 17; Rep. Ruprecht, Graf. 15; Rep. Diggs, Graf. 16; Rep. T. Smith, Hills. 17; Rep. Berrien, Rock. 18; Sen. Watters, Dist 4; Sen. Feltes, Dist 15; Sen. Rosenwald, Dist 13; Sen. Sherman, Dist 24

 

COMMITTEE: Children and Family Law

 

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ANALYSIS

 

This bill raises the minimum age for marriage from 16 to 18 years of age.

 

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

11Mar2020... 1142h 20-2424

05/06

 

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

 

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty

 

AN ACT raising the minimum age for marriage.

 

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

 

1  Marriage; Age.  Amend RSA 457:4 to read as follows:

457:4  Marriageable.  [No person below the age of 16 years shall be capable of contracting a valid marriage, and all marriages contracted by such persons shall be null and void.] No individual under the age of 18 shall be granted a marriage license.

2  Prohibitions.  Amend RSA 457:8 to read as follows:

457:8  Prohibitions.  No town clerk shall issue any certificate for the marriage of any person below the age of [consent] 18, and no magistrate or minister of religion shall solemnize the marriage of any such person, if such clerk, magistrate or minister knows or has reasonable cause to believe that such person is below such age[, unless permission for such marriage has been given under this subdivision].  No magistrate or minister of religion shall solemnize any marriage by proxy.

3  Repeal.  The following are repealed:

I.  RSA 457:6, relative to a marriage petition by a party under age.

II.  RSA 457:7, relative to grounds for granting a marriage petition by a party under age.

III.  RSA 5-C:45, relative to the marriage license of a party under age.

4  Effective Date.  This act shall take effect January 1, 2021.